Meanings
plural Metcalfs · alternative Medcalf · alternative Medcalfe · alternative Metcalfe · alternative Mitcalfe
- A Northern English surname.
The online fundraising site GiveSendGo continues to face criticism over a page that has raised more than $320,000 for Karmelo Anthony, the teen arrested for stabbing fellow 17-year-old student-athlete Austin Metcalf to death at a Texas track meet last week.
2025 April 10, Bobby Burack, “GiveSendGo's $300,000 Page For Karmelo Anthony Is Consistent With Company Policy”, in OutKick, archived from the original on 05 Apr 2026
Origin
- Old English*metecealf“meat calf”
- EnglishMetcalf
Possibly from Old English *metecealf (“meat calf”), a calf to be fattened up for eating. The use as a surname could have started off as a jocular nickname for an individual thought to be as "fat as a prize-calf"; or else in reference to the occupation involved in fattening up such a calf.
More words from Old English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Metcalf. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Metcalf
“Metcalf.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Metcalf. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Metcalf,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Metcalf.
Source: Metcalf on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.