JEROME FORDHAM

Vernacular form of the Greek name Hieronymos, derived from hieros ‘holy’ + onoma ‘name’. St Jerome (c.342–420) was a citizen of the Eastern Roman Empire, who bore the Greek names Eusebios Hieronymos Sophronios; he was chiefly responsible for the translation into Latin of the Bible, the Vulgate. He also wrote many works of commentary and exposition on the Bible, and is regarded as one of the Doctors of the Church. The Greek form of the name was used occasionally in England; it is recorded in Nottinghamshire, for example, in the late 16th century. Both Jerome and Jeronimus are found in Yorkshire and elsewhere from that date onwards. The name was borne by the British writer Jerome K. Jerome (1859–1927), the American songwriter Jerome Kern (1885–1945), and the American ballet dancer and choreographer Jerome Robbins (1918–98).

English: habitational name from any of the places in Cambridgeshire, Essex, and Norfolk named Fordham, from Old English ford ‘ford’ + hām ‘homestead’ or hamm ‘enclosure hemmed in by water’.