Tennant Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Tennant last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
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Meaning and origin of the Tennant last name
Meaning of the Tennant last name: tenant farmer. Tennant is a Scottish and English surname for a tenant who held land from a lord. It is common in Lanarkshire and Yorkshire. Chemist Charles Tennant built the St Rollox works in Glasgow, and the Tennent brewing family of Glasgow uses a variant of the last name.
Arms associated with the Tennant name
Coats of arms associated with the Tennant surname follow Scottish heraldry, where each blazon belongs to one bearer.
Get your full Tennant family history
This is only a glimpse of the Tennant story. The full Tennant history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Tennant coat of arms. Get the full Tennant report.
Tennant name FAQ
What does the Tennant name mean?
Tenant farmer. Common variants include Tenant, Tennent.
Where does the Tennant surname come from?
It originates in Scotland, and is also found in the United States, Canada and Australia.
Is there a Tennant coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Tennant coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Sources: George F. Black, The Surnames of Scotland (New York Public Library, 1946); Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford).