Cavendish (surname)

Cavendish is an English surname, deriving from a place name in Suffolk. Etymologically, it is believed to derive from Old English Cafa/Cafna, a personal byname from caf 'bold, daring', plus edisc 'enclosure; enclosed pasture'. Spelling has varied considerably over time; the village was first recorded, in 1086 in the Domesday Book, as Kavandisc, and as a surname it appears as de Cavendis in 1201, Cavenedis in 1242, and de Cavendish in 1302. The Cavendish noble family has generally been considered to be a branch of the same Anglo-Norman baronial lineage as Gernon (of Essex, Suffolk, and Derby, originally Guernon of Normandy) and de Montfichet/Mountfitchet (of Essex, Middlesex, and London, originally Montfiquet of Normandy), though not without some critics of this hypothesis. Shortened forms of the name (via Middle English spellings like Cauendish and Caundish) have included Candish and Cantis/Candis, though the latter has also been independently derived from Candace/Candice, originally a Biblical given name.

Notable people surnamed Cavendish

 * Ada Cavendish (1839–1895), British actress
 * Anthony Cavendish (1927–2013), British intelligence officer
 * Camilla Cavendish (born 1968), British journalist
 * Lord Charles Cavendish (1704–1783), British nobleman, Whig politician and scientist
 * Charles Cavendish (1793–1863), British Liberal politician
 * George Cavendish (writer) (c. 1494 – 1562) English writer and biographer of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
 * Henry Cavendish (1731–1810), British physicist, discoverer of hydrogen
 * Lucy Cavendish (1841–1925), British pioneer of women's education
 * Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623–1673), English aristocrat, writer, and philosopher
 * Mark Cavendish (born 1985), Manx cyclist
 * Michael Cavendish (c. 1565—1628), English composer
 * Peregrine Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire (born 1944), British Peer and owner of Pratt's Club
 * Lord Richard Cavendish (1752–1781), British MP
 * Lord Richard Cavendish (1871–1946), British MP, aristocrat, author, magistrate
 * Richard Cavendish (occult writer) (1930–2016), British writer on topics dealing with the occult
 * Robin Cavendish (1930–1994), a British advocate for disabled people
 * Sid Cavendish (1876–1954), English footballer with Southampton and Clapton Orient
 * Thomas Cavendish (1560–1592), English admiral, and namesake of Cavendish tobacco
 * William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (1738–1809), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom