O'Hear

This interesting name has a number of possible origins, the most likely coming from the Anglo-Saxon nickname for a swift runner, from the Olde English pre 7th Century word, "Hara", a hare. The name is also topographical from the Olde English word "Haer", meaning stony ground. It is also the Anglicized form of the Gaelic name "O'hAichir", descendant of "Aichear", which is a personal name derived from "Aichear" meaning sharp or fierce. Early recording of "Le Hare" date from the 13th Century, with the first recording of Hare dating from 1379, in the Poll Tax Records of Yorkshire, when a Johannes Hare is mentioned. The name is spelt "Hair" in Scotland where both forms of the spelling are prominent in Ayrshire. William Hare was burgess of Edinburgh in 1366. A John Haire was tenant under the Abbey of Kelso (1567). Sir Nicholas Hare (died 1557) was a judge, M.P. for Downton (1529), Norfolk (1539), and Lancaster (1544), and was knighted in 1537. Hugh Hare (1606 - 1667) was first Baron of Coleraine in Irish Peerage and he supported Charles 1st during the Civil War. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter le Hare, which was dated 1166, in the "Pipe Rolls of Surrey", 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.