Marwick - Name

This is a Scottish and Orcadian surname It is locational from a hamlet called Marwick in the parish of Birsay, on Orkney. The name means the place (wic) of the sea mew, from the Olde English and Norse of the pre 7th century. Locational surnames are usually 'from' names. That is to say names given to people after they left their original homes to more elsewhere. It was centuries ago, and to some extent it has remained, that the easiest way to identify a stranger was to to call him or sometimes her, by the name of the place from whence they came. In this case the surname whilst still rare, has found a world wide audience as being a partners name in the famous firm of US based accountants Peate, Marwick and Mitchell, who have branches in every developing nation. The name was however famous much earlier, Sir James Marwick (1826 - 1908) being a distinguished Scottish antiquarian, whose work received international acclaim in Victorian times.