When Judith Best was born in 1647, in Somerset, Maryland, United States, her father, Thomas Bloyce, was 23 and her mother, Frances Ridley, was 22. She married Thomas Davis on 8 November 1670, in Manokin, Somerset, Maryland, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons.
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Historical Boundaries: 1666: Somerset, Maryland Colony, British Colonial America 1776: Somerset, Maryland, United States
English and northern Irish: nickname from Middle English best(e) (Old English betst) ‘best, finest (person)’.
English, northern Irish, and French: nickname from Middle English best(e), Old French beste ‘beast, animal’ (especially those used for food or work), applied either as a metonymic occupational name for someone who looked after beasts, such as a herdsman, or as a nickname for someone thought to resemble an animal. Compare English Bester 1.
English: from a Middle English adverbial expression of the Best, but the meaning is unknown.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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