Chatfield (surname)
Chatfield is a toponymic surname of English origin with Old English roots, first appearing in the region of Sussex. Records indicate that the first people to bear this name were from a location named Catsfield, in Southern England. Etymology The surname Chatfield can be traced to the village of Catsfield in East Sussex. The first recorded instance of this name is William de Cattefeld, found within tax records from the area in the early 1300s. Since the surname was most likely granted as a byname, the origin of the name Chatfield is directly tied to the etymology of the village itself. Several theories currently exist as to how the village of Catsfield was named. The earliest record of Catsfield comes from the Domesday Book, in which the village is referred to as Cedesfelle. It's believed that Catsfield is combination of two Old English words, the first being Catte and the second being Feld, which translates to, "field, pasture, plains, or open country". More specifically, the word refers to an uncultivated land without forests.. There has been some speculation as to the true meaning behind the word Catte. Firstly, the suspected origin of Catte is that it was derived from a