ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1469 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1469 ************************************ 21 Dec 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about the surname . This letter is a brief answer to your question. The surname derives from the name of a place in Derbyshire, recorded as in the Domesday Book, 1183, 1236 and 1285. The original Old English form would have been , meaning "Codda's ridge". was an Old English given name, found as an element in other place names. The Old English word means "a slope, hill, or ridge" [1, 2]. We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Heather Rose Jones and Brian M. Scott. For the Academy, Josh Mittleman 21 Dec 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Ekwall, Eilert, _The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names_, 4th edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), s.nn. Codnor, Codbro. [2] Smith, A.H., _English Place-Name Elements_ (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1956), s.v. ofer.