HERON. Taken au pied de la lettre this name would appear to be derived from the bird ; but Heron is a comparatively modern orthography, it having been formerly written Hairun, Heyrun, Heirun, «Scc. " Sir John Hairun entered England with the Conqueror, and was possessed of Ford Castle, and a very good estate." Kimber's Baronetage. There is a commune in the arrondissemenf of Rouen called Le Heron, but it does not appear whether this was the cradle of the race.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.