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Theories on the Origin of the Symonds Name
One theory about the origin of the Symonds name came from the Victorian writer and critic John Addington Symonds. He wrote the following to a friend in 1865:
“Although obscure at present, we happen to have a very long and full and varied pedigree dating from Adam Fitz Simon who was a large holder of lands in Hertfordshire, Essex and Norfolk under Bishop Odo. The family of Symonds, one branch of which I represent, was supposed to have descended from Adam Fitz Simon, Lord of St. Sever in Normandy.
Adam received lands and manors in Threxton in Norfolk and Almeshoe in Hertfordshire and died sometime before 1118. In the third generation after him, the family divided into two branches - the eldest continued to flourish for many generations in Hertfordshire and Essex (its most distinguished member being Richard Fitz Simon, one of the founders of the Order of the Garter); while the second branch settled in Norfolk at Threxton, Suffield, Ormesby, Runham Hall, and Cley by the Sea. Already by the beginning of the 14th century, they had anglicized their patronym to Symonds.
Our name was probably derived from Sigmund and not from Simon. This accounts for the short 'y' and for the 'd' which survives in the termination. Fitz Symond was the son of Siegmund and the accent fell upon the last syllable."
Another view of Symonds was that the west coast Symonds came indeed from Normandy. The name there was pronounced "Simmonds." On the other hand Symonds in Norfolk had its origin from a Danish fishing family which settled on a sandbank in Norfolk, now Great Yarmouth, in 1654. The Symonds pronunciation here rhymed with diamonds.