Ravenshaw is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

surname from

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...

, County Durham,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a ceremonial counties of England, county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Ab ...

, and

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. There are various theories to the meaning, but the simplest is "raven" (either a bird or a personal name), and "wood". The oldest historical record of a surname variant was that of "Stephen de Ravenshagh", 1332,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

. There are other variants. Ravenshaw is uncommon as a given name. People with the surname include: * Edward Vincent Ravenshaw (1854–1880), Scottish footballer *

Hurdis Ravenshaw Major-General Hurdis Secundus Lalande Ravenshaw CMG (June 1869 – c. 6 June 1920) was a senior British Army officer in the First World War who served at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and saw action on the North-West Frontier of India, ...

(1869 – c. 1920), British Army officer * John Goldsborough Ravenshaw II, (1777–1840), chairman of the British East India Company * Thomas Edward Ravenshaw (1827–1914), educator, founder of Ravenshaw College, and a member of the British East India Company

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See also