Trever

Recorded as Trever, Trevor, Trevers, Trevear, and others, this is a locational surname. It is probably Cornish but could be Welsh. It is locational and presumably is from one or all of the villages and settlements of which there are three called Trevor in Wales and certainly two and possibly three, in Cornwall. The meaning is probably Mor's homestead, from the ancient Celtic "tre mor" which was transposed over the centuries by pronunciation to "tre vor." It is very rare indeed for Welsh or indeed Irish surnames where it is occassionally recorded, to be locational, and it is estimated that there are less than a dozen examples out of five thousand surnames of the two countries. This surname is not listed as an original name in either country, which we find surprising. It is very well recorded in both the early surviving church regoisters of the city of London and in Cornwall itself. Examples from these sources include Alice Trever at St Andrews Holborn in the city of London on December 1st 1546, during the reign of the not entirely lovable King Henry V111th (1510 - 1547), Valluntin Trevor at St Margarets Westminster, on October 24th 1586, and Roger Trevor at St Germans, Cornwall, on August 29th 1596.