Ewer

This most interesting and unusual surname has two possible origins. Firstly, it may be a patronymic of "Ewer", which itself is of early medieval English origin, from the Middle English "ewer", from the Old French "aiguier", Latin "aqua", water; an occupational name for a servant who supplied guests at a table with water to wash their hands. However, the name is also found in Germany, where it is a Low German patronymic surname, deriving from a Germanic personal name which was composed of the elements "eber", a wild boar, and "hard", brave, hardy, strong. This has also given us the English surname "Everard", which was initially found mainly in East Anglia, having been introduced in the Germanic form by the Normans. Early examples of the surname include: Richard Lewer, in the Feet of Fines of Surrey in 1219; Alexander Euer, in the Bedfordshire Subsidy Rolls of 1309; and Rober Lower, in the Register of the Freemen of the City of York in 1513. Robert Ewers was an early settler and landowner in Virginia in 1626. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard le Ewer, which was dated 1185, in the "Records of the Templars in England in the 12th Century", during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.