Names are in order of appearance. The year given is the earliest use that I have found so far. A year in brackets means that the information has yet to be verified at source. The names in the table are variants of identifiable 'Colenso' family members in or from the United Kingdom and are taken from various census returns, birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial records. The names in this table are only some of the possible variants to be found in the records for immigrants entering the United States through Ellis Island.	The name Colenso is thought to have derived from the name of a manor in St Hilary Cornwall. As with many names that refer to a specific location, the origins of the name are to be found in the language that was spoken many, many years ago, with words that described the 'lie of the land'. There are a couple of ideas in circulation. Firstly ke lyn su which may refer to a 'dark hedged pool'. This would certainly be backed up with the variants of the name below from the 1500's and early 1600's as well as alternative similar spellings but beginning with 'C' from about the same time. Secondly, callen - su which may refer to a 'dark layer of iron-ochre on rock'. This would possibly account for the variants which include 'll' within the spelling. Today, there are still buildings (three cottages and two farms) which bear the 'Colenso' name in St Hilary and which have had reference in both census and directory. There is also a cottage Colenso(e) in the grounds of 'Trelowarren' in the parish of Mawgan in Meneage which was owned by the 'Vyvyan' family. However, further down this page are just some of the names and country of origin that have passed through 'Ellis Island', strongly indicating the Mediterranean as a real origin. The earliest record of the name so far in Cornwall rests with a Sybille Calensow taxed 18 pence St Hilary in 1327. As a place or name there is no mention in the Domesday Book. 16th Century 17th Century 18th Century 19th Century Calensoe 1568 Calenso 1600 Colensow 1702 Calense 1801 Calensewe 1601 Colinso 1707 Colenza 1820 Calensawe 1570 Kalensew 1603 Calensue 1708 Colenson 1822 Calensew (1604) Calensa 1710 Colevsoe 1824 Collensaw (1572) Callensow Kalensewe 1605 Colensoe 1722 Colanso 1826 Calensow 1607 Colenso 1731 Kolenso 1831 Kelensowe 1573 Callensaw 1609 Calense Collensoe 1745 1750 Coelensoe 1833 Callensowe 1610 Callinsoe Colenzo 1765 Callansoe 1834 Calensaw 1593 Kalensow 1611 Colinsoe 1772 Colenro Colewna Colinns 1838 Kalensowe 1612 Collenso 1774 Clenso Colensa Colengo 1839 1840 1841 Calengewe 1599 Calensowe 1617 Callenso 1777 Colonso (1845) Chalenso Callensewe 1635 Callencoe 1782 Colense 1846 *   ***   Calenzoe 1639 Callinso 1797 Collendo 1848 Callensew 1640 Cellenso 1798 Callensa (Cullenso) 1850 Caleniow Calenzo Calibnow 1641 *     *** Colenes Celinso 1851 1861 Callenzeow 1645 Colens Callento Coleriso 1881 Kalenson 1683 20th Century * Coletizo 1897 Clenza Coleman Colenss Colinas Colenor 1901 * Italy Hungary UK Celenza Celenze Celenzi Celenzia Celenzo Celinci Celinza Cellennce Cellinci Cellinese Cellius Cellniese Celloniz Celnesi Celonas Celonese Celonis Celjenica Calanse Calaounus Calenza Caleniso Callins Chalenes Colenos Colense Colensa Colenzo Collengo Collenson Piree Cellenis Noordvelle Celeynse If there are any more variants which are sourced let me know and I will add them to the list. Also any earlier sourced examples of the above variants will be gratefully received. .
The origin of my particular branch of interest remains a mystery. My own observations when looking at different sources are that 'Leaman' families tend to be centred around Devon and 'Lemon' families in middle to the south of England. Variants in the north are either visitors/settlers from the south or misspellings. The latter happening frequently of course. I need to thank Dr Bernard Leeman for some of the origin sources which I found HERE	1.There is a suggestion that 'Leeman/Lemon' are derived from the given name of Lefman (Old English Leofmann). Leof meaning dear or beloved and mann meaning man. Other suggested variants are Loveman, Lowman and Luffman but so far I have not found these 'infiltrating' any of the families. 2. Leeming is also a suggested variant of Lemon but where the origins are also from one of two habitation names based on rivers. One is near Keighley in West Yorkshire, and the other is near Northallerton in North Yorkshire. Here the Old English word leoma meaning gleam or sparkle is at the root. 3. Leeman/Lehman(n) have origins that go back to the 1st Century when Jewish Slaves were brought by the Romans to the Rhineland. It is thought that they were from the tribe of Levi and therefore priests. 4. In the north of England there was a large Dutch settlement to help clear the Fenland. It is possible that the Leeman name could have come to the area via this route. 5. Leemann is also an area in Zurich, Switzerland and families have been traced back to the fourteenth century. Further information from Robert Livingston, Placerville, California. 'It is my sense that the Scottish Clan Laigh (pronounced 'Lee'), and the surnames MacLea, MacOnlea, MacOllaigh, and Livingston all equate to the English Leeman.Although surnames did not come into existance until after the 11th century in Britain, tribal names (clan names) certainly would have been recognized as well as a nobleman's title. The first occurence of the personal name Leof (beloved) that I have found is in the Chronicum Pictorum - a mythological list of Pictish or Cruithne kings in Scotland. It appears in the genitive case (possessive) as "Leo" and "Uleo" (pronounced Lee and Ooo-lee). In the genitive case, the final "f" is silent. "Laigh, from whom descend Clan Laigh of Scotland" was the son of Fergus Leithderg, one of the legendary settlers of Ireland. This legendary Fergus could easily be equated with "Urgest", the Pict king who preceeded Leo and Uleo. The name MacLeo (son of Leof) appears again in the Annals of the Four Masters (Irish Annals) in describing the ancestors of Saint Patrick. The second century Greek astronomer Ptolemy mapped the coast of Britain and described a gulf or bay to the west of the Clyde River Estuary as "Sinus Leman-nonius". I suspect that this is the water between the Isle of Arran and the Isle of Bute. Just to the west of this is "Ard Lamont" and "Point Lamont", places once peopled by Clan Lamont. The Gaelic spelling of these places would have been "Liomhainn", pronounced "Leevin" or "Leephin". The "m" is often changed into a "fricative" causing it pronunciation to change to an "f" or "v" sound. Travelling up Loch Fyne in Argyll are the villages of Lephinmore, Lephinbeg, and Lindsaig (pronounced 'Lindsey'). The latter place is shown as Leavinsaig on old maps. This was the old barony of the MacLeas of Cowal. Travelling further west, we come to Oban which faces Loch Linnhe. Just to the north of Oban is Dun Ollaigh (meaning 'fort of young Lee'), which is also spelled in the Irish Annals as Dun Onlaigh in the year 686 AD. (with the same meaning). Maps of the 16th century show Dunollie to have been spelled "Duin Ollyff". This indicates to me that the genitive was easily exhanged for the nominative case. Just to the north of Dunollie is Acha-leven (the pasture of Levin). To the west of this is the Isle of Lismore (where my ancestors lived), and there we have Cloich-lea (the rock or town of Lee). Also on Lismore is Kil-lean, which I take to mean 'the church or shrine of Levin". "Leven" and its genitive form "Lyon" or "Lynn" appear scattered all across Scotland - from Loch Leven near Lismore, to the city of Leven on the eastern shore in Fife. There are four Loch Levens and four River Levens (some are disguised as "Lyon"). There are an equal number of "Killean" place names and there was a Saint Livinus from a noble family in Scotland who lived in the 7th century. There is also a Killeevan Parish in County Down, Ireland. Leven is also a place name in England. In Yorkshire there is the River Leven where you will find Kirk Levington and Castle Levington. The Domesday survey shows these places as "Len-tune", with "Len" being the genitive form of "Levin". There are other Leven place names in England that I have not yet had the opportunity to study. One is near the Hull River, which I found interesting because of the comment made on Dr. Bernard Leeman's site regarding the Dutch settlement there. Tradition holds that the Livingstons who established the village of Livingston (south of Edinburgh) supposedly came from Yorkshire along with Queen Margaret after the Norman Conquest. Tradition also holds that they are descended from the highland MacLeas.' Leaman Leamon Leeman Leman Lemon Lemmon Leoman (Liman) (Limon) Liomin
Nothing is ever simple is it? Just as I thought I had a fairly good sense of where Foster may have come from, other ideas and linguistic routes previously unknown, now confuse the issue, and make it very difficult to envisage a solution to the question of origin. So home-grown? Jewish/Germanic? Or Latin/French? I sense many more hours of research ahead!	Although today the word forest is used as an alternative for wood, the 'true' meaning refers to a specific area of woodland which was reserved for hunting by the king - by law. The surname of For(r)ester is therefore originally a reference to one who lived near and/or who worked in one such forest. Some variants have shortened to Forster and again to Foster. Along the same lines but a slightly longer route is the idea that the name could have derived from an Ashkenazic Jewish word via Germany from the word forst meaning forest. There are two possible derivatives from the Latin/French route which found a use in Norman England. Firstly an occupational name for a person who made scissors, from the Old French word forcetier and Latin forfices. Secondly, and back to the wood theme, an occupational name for a worker of wood from the Old French fust(r)ier and fustre (block of wood). There is quite a detailed lineage from the French by Lieutenant Ivan Leon Foster, Field Artillery, U.S. Army and another with a slight variation by Judith Clay . However, Foster could be a name in its own right derived from the Old English words foster meaning food, as a development from fostrian meaning to nourish or rear leading to the occupational meaning in 'fostering' children.
In some ways the Drummond name is the easiest to pinpoint in terms of origin.......but then again..... Not having the courage to look just yet, I am guessing that there may be quite a few such names and places, which could make the whole process of determining the real origin very difficult	Most definitely Scots in origin which is the easy part.   It is a habitation name from any of a number of places which have derived from the Gaelic word dromainn which is itself derived from the word druim meaning ridge.