Anguish

See also: anguish

English

Etymology

The given name, most famously borne by the character of King Anguish of Ireland, is thought to be a variant of Aengus/Angus, from Irish.^[1] The surname is probably also a variant of Angus.^[2]

Proper noun

Anguish

1. A surname.
   • 1698 December 29, record from Thorington, printed in 1884 Thomas Smythe Hill, The registers of the parish of Thorington, page 56:

     Edmund Anguish of Somerleighton

   • 1907, Canadian Bee Journal, volumes 15-16, page 70:

     By request, Mr. Anguish, who is an expert on comb honey, was asked to give some points on its production: Mr. Anguish uses a divisible brood chamber. […]

   • 1919, House Journal of the Legislature of the State of Washington, page 548:

     On motion of Mr. Anguish, the House concurred in the Senate amendments to House Bill No. 115 by the following vote: Those voting yea were: Representatives Adams (Wm. H.), Adamson, Allen, Anderson (W. M.), Anguish, Aspinwall, Atkinson […]

2. (rare) A male given name
   • 1819, “Durant v Titley”, in Francis Joseph Troubat, George Price, editors, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Exchequer, published 1835, page 231:

     […] been ready and willing to take one of the children by her husband, not being the eldest, to live with her; and that she did afterwards fix upon one of such children, named Anguish, and did request her husband to permit the said child to reside and live with her, […] and the defendant futher pleaded, that the said Anguish, the said child in the said declaration mentioned was not born at the time of the sealing and delivering of the said indenture, but long afterwards.

References

1. Ronan Coghlan, Irish First Names (1985), page 7
2. Harrison, Henry (1912) “Anguish”, in Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary, volume 1, Baltimore, Maryland: reprinted for Clearfield Company, Inc. by Genealogical Publishing Co., published 1969, page 9, column 1: “a corr. form of Angus, q.v.”