Ware
An English surname that can point either to someone from Ware in Hertfordshire or to a person who lived by a weir or dam.
The #700 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 6,261 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Ware is generally explained in two ways. It may be a habitational surname from the town of Ware in Hertfordshire, or it may come from Middle English and Old English words for a weir or dam in a river. In both cases the name is tied to a place rather than to a personal characteristic.
History
Medieval records cited by 19th-century surname scholars show bearers such as Henry de Ware and Ralph de la Ware. The name has long been established in England, especially in the southeast, and later spread more widely through migration. Some older writers also treated Ware as a spelling related to Weir and Wear.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The town of Ware in Hertfordshire was recorded in Domesday Book under an early plural form, which helps explain why the surname was already established in medieval documents.
From the historical record
“WARDROPPER f (q.v.) + the agent, suff. -er. WARE (Eng.) i Bel. to Ware ; or Dweller at the Weir or Dam [M.E. ivcwie, wer{fi, O.E. zu«>-=Low Ger. ware, a weir] Henry de Ware. — Hund. Rolls. Ralph de la 'Wa.xe.—Hund. Rolls. Ware, Herts, was Waras (a pi. form) in Domesday-Bk.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)