Lingo (surname)

The Scottish surname Lingo is derived from the lands of Lingoch in the parish of Carnbee, Fife, Scotland. The earliest known recorded use of the surname in Scotland is by Ulf de Lingoch, who witnessed a charter granted in the early 13th century.

The Lingo estate lands, located on Ling Burn near the village of Carnbee in the East Neuk of Fife, northwest of Pittenweem, belonged to the Monastery of Pittenweem prior to 1534, and were partly in possession of the Borthwicks of Lingo from 1534 until 1671, after which date they were held by the Hamiltons of Kilbrackmont until 1739, when they were purchased by Thomas Dalyell, a descendant of the Dalyells of Binns; in 1895 they were held by Ralph Dalyell, Esquire.

Lingo House, the seat of the ancient estate, is located about halfway between St. Andrews and Pittenweem, situated about a mile to the north of the B940 road, approximately 2 miles east of its junction with the A915 (St. Andrews to Largo).

The first element of the name may be from Scottish Gaelic ling- 'leap, rush', possibly referring to the rapid Lathockar Burn on Lingo's northwest boundary and with a large waterfall in its course. It may otherwise be a rare loan word from Scots into Gaelic, ling 'heather'. The second element is the Gaelic place name suffix -och, generally -ach in modern Gaelic and commonly reduced to -o in Fife place names. Down through the centuries, the ancient pronunciation and spelling of Lingoch was shortened to Lingo, and that form has been in use since at least the 17th century, with some variations. The surname is occasionally found spelled Lingoe and Lingow, and has at times been confused with Ling, Linge, and Lingon.

...
Wikipedia