Trahair

Recorded as Trahar, Trahair, Trehear, Traher, and possibly others, this is a surname of Cornish origins. Deriving from the ancient word tregher meaning a tailor or cutter it is rare outside of its original homeland. So not only is it rare, but it is also unusual in that Cornish surnames are rarely occupational, and almost always locational. Cornish has not been spoken in the county except in some very rare places, for over two hundred years, and today would be totally extinct, but for the formation of the Cornish Language Society in the 1970's. It is understood that today over two hundredpeople have a working knowledge of the language. This surname is recorded in the surviving church registers of the city of London from the mid 18th century with an example being that of Nicholas Trahar who married the appropriately named Dorothy Cornwall or Cornwell, at St Anne's Soho, Westminster on October 18th 1772. However in Cornwall itself it is well recorded in all its different spellings, and perhaps the first example in the church registers is that of Mary Trahear. She married Willam Symons at West Newlyn, on December 30th 1690.