Ewart

This interesting name is arguably at least English with some Scottish input. It has three possible origins. The first is locational from the village of Ewart in the parish of Doddington in Northumberland, England. This is recorded as Ewurthe in the Pipe Rolls of the county in 1218 and means "The enclosure by the river", from the pre 7th century word "ea", a river, and "worth", an enclosure. This is proven by the fact that Ewart is enclosed by the rivers Glen and Till. The first recording of the name, a shown below, is from this source. The second possible origin is from the Norman French form of the given name Edward, which was "Ewart or Ewert", and is recorded in the famous Domesday Book of 1086. The name means "prosperity-guard", from elements "ead" and "weard". Finally it may be an occupational name for a shepherd, from the Middle English word "ewehirde". Examples of recordings include the marriage of John Ewart and Mabell Athey at Berwick upon Tweed, on June 19th 1620. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert de Ewrth. This was dated 1242, in the "Fees Court Records of Northumberland", during the reign of King Henry 111rd, 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.