The Swanborough surname has a place-name derivation. In the heart of Wiltshire is the Swanborough Hundred, established over a thousand years ago, and the earliest known occurrences of our surname are found in the records from towns and villages in this Hundred (mostly in the area between Devizes and Pewsey). However, some families can't trace ancestors to that area, and an alternative origin is East Sussex, where there is a Swanborough Manor. A third possible origin is East Anglia, where the Swanbrow spelling is more common in the oldest records.