Origin of the name greav es as a family name
This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and has two possible sources. Firstly, the surname may be locational from a place thus called in Preston, Lancashire.The placename derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century graefe, grove, brushwood, thicket.ocational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, usually to seek work, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. Secondly, the surname may have been topographical for a dweller by the grove, from the same derivation as before.