English
The surname Single is of English origin. It is a habitational name Lancashire and Sussex, England. The former seems from the present-day distribution of the surname to be the major source, and is named from the Old English 'scingel', shingle; the latter gets its name from the Old English 'sengel', burnt clearing. The name in the latter sense thus comes to signify 'dweller by the burnt clearing'. A family could acquire a place name as a surname under three different circumstances: 1. the gentleman lived or worked in or near some topographical formation or landscape feature, either natural or artificial. 2. he formerly lived in a village and thus acquired the reputation of being from that place. 3. he owned or was lord of the village or manor designated. However, it is safe to say that in most cases a manor or village name merely identifies the place where the original bearer of the name formerly resided; as is the case with the surname Single. The name may also be a nickname ( English-French-Latin ) 'the single, lonely, pure, simple, innocent', ( Middle English, single, singel, sengel; Old French, sengle, single; Latin, singul-us, single, seperate ). The name dates back to the thirteenth century were a Alan de la Sengle is recorded in historical archives. This name was brought to America predominately by English immigrants. One of the first fore fathers to bring this name to America is that of a William Single, formerly of Bath, (Somerset) England, a labourer, who came to America aboard the barque Richmond; he settled in Philadelphia. This name is the four-hundredth and twenty-third most numerous surname in America.