Ivers

This rare and interesting surname is a patronymic of Ivor, which is of Old Norse origin, from the personal name "Ivarr", of uncertain etymology, but thought to be derived from the elements "iw", yew, bow (a weapon generally made from the supple wood of the yew tree), and "herr", army. The given name was adopted at an early date by the Irish, Scots and Welsh, and much later and more rarely by the English. Many bearers of the modern surname are therefore of Celtic ancestry. The personal name was first recorded as "Juuar" in the Domesday Book for Shropshire of 1086, and one Iware diaconus was recorded in the Records of St. Benet of Holme, Norfolk (1140 - 1153). The modern surname can be found recorded as Ivor and Iver, and the patronymics include Ivers, Iverson, MacIvor and MacIver. Recorded in London Church Registers are the marriages of Ambros Ivers and Ann Barlowe, on June 15th 1578, at St. Matthew's, Friday Street, and of Richard Ivers and Hellen Sharman, on September 27th 1599, at St. James', Clerkenwell. A Coat of Arms granted to an Ivers family is a silver shield, on a bend azure three fleurs-de-lis gold, the Crest being a demi lion rampant gold, collared black. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Yuor, which was dated 1296, in the "Subsidy Rolls of Sussex", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.