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Surnames were often peculiar to a particular county and Cheshire is no exception. Surnames generally denoted where you came from or what you did as a living. There were many names recorded by the end of the 19th Century in Cheshire that related to the place they lived: Acton, Astbury, Aston, Bebbington, Chesters, Erlam, Hockenhull, Huxley, Minshull, Ravenscroft, Sandbach, Sproston, Stockton, Timperley, Wych.
Warburton - 'from Warburton' in Cheshire. The Warburtons came from the family line of Dutton.
There were also names that could indicate they came from somewhere in Cheshire or another county with the same place name.
Hargreaves (Hargrave, Hargraves, Hargreves, Hargrove) means 'From Hargrave' or Hargreave Hall, Cheshire. Though it could relate to a person from Hargrave in Northants or Suffolk.
Cholmondeley - 'from Cholmondeley' in Cheshire. Family members moved to other counties and used variations of their surname; Chumley, Chumbley, Chamley and Chambley.
Egerton - 'from Egerton' in Cheshire, could also relate to someone from Kent or Edgerton in Huddersfield.
The name Weaver or Weafer (also Webb, Webber or Webster) is the name for a weaver or someone who lived near the River Weaver in Cheshire. It is also said to be linked to Weaver Hall, Cheshire.
A basic problem with surnames, is to decide whether a surname has been derived from a place because of families having lived there a long time or because they settled there after migrating some distance. Certain families moved considerable distances in the early Middle Ages, during the period when surnames were being formed.
Another problem is repetition of place names - for example: Hargreaves. A place in Cheshire but also Suffolk. Some village names have disappeared, yet they were recorded in the Domesday Book.
Additionally, because Cheshire had a strong
Norman influence, many names have derived from this time. Such as the Venables
who took their name from a place in Normandy.