Origin
Beer : 1: English (West Country): habitational name from any of the forty or so places in southwestern England called Beer(e) or Bear(e). Most of these derive their names from the West Saxon dative case beara of Old English bearu ‘grove wood’ (the standard Old English dative bearwe being preserved in Barrow). In some cases the surname may be topographic in origin from atte beare ‘at the grove’. Some may be from Middle English bere ‘woodland swine-pasture’ (Old English bǣr). Compare Bear 1.2: English: variant of Bear 2 ‘bear’.3: North German and Dutch: from Middle Low German bāre Middle Dutch bēre ‘bear’ applied as a nickname for someone thought to resemble the animal in some way or as a metonymic occupational name for someone who kept a performing bear (compare 2 above). Alternatively it could have been a topographic or habitational name referring to a house distinguished by the sign of a bear or from an ancient Germanic personal name with this as the first element. See also Baer Bahr.4: Germanized form of Sorbian Běr: from a short form of the Old Sorbian personal name Běrisław (based on the Old Slavic imperative beri ‘collect’).5: Americanized form (translation into English) of German or Jewish (Ashkenazic) Bier or possibly of some other similar (like-sounding) surname.
Beerbower : Americanized form of German Bierbauer: variant of Bierbrauer ‘brewer’ or perhaps an occupational name for a farmer who kept a boar and raised hogs from Low German beer ‘boar’ + bauer ‘farmer’. Compare Bierbower.
Bier : 1: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German bier ‘beer’ German Bier Yiddish bir a metonymic occupational name for a brewer of beer or a tavern owner or in some cases perhaps a nickname for a beer drinker.2: South German: from a short form of a personal name formed with Old High German bero ‘bear’.3: Germanized form of Sorbian Běr: from a short form of the Old Sorbian personal name Běrisław (based on the Old Slavic imperative beri ‘collect’).4: English: variant of Byer. See also Byers.
Bierman : 1: Dutch: occupational name for a beer merchant brewer or tavern owner or in some cases perhaps a nickname for a beer drinker; see Bier.2: Americanized form of German Biermann and a variant of the same Jewish (Ashkenazic) surname a cognate of 1 above.
Bierwagen : German: nickname for a drayman (a man who delivered beer to taverns and inns) literally meaning ‘beer wagon’.
Bierwirth : German: occupational name for an innkeeper mainly serving beer Middle High German birwirt.
Borntrager : German (Bornträger): from Middle High German burne (Middle Low German born) ‘spring well’ + an agent derivative of tragen ‘to carry’ hence an occupational name originally for a water carrier and then for a transporter of liquids (wine beer etc.). Compare Bontrager and Borntreger.
Brauer : North German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) (also Bräuer): occupational name for a brewer of beer or ale from Middle Low German brūwer or Middle High German briuwer ‘brewer’.
Breuer : German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a brewer of beer or ale from Middle High German briuwer ‘brewer’.
Brewer : 1: English: occupational name for a brewer of beer or ale from Middle English brewere ‘brewer’ (an agent derivative of Old English brēowan ‘to brew’). Compare Brewster.2: English (of Norman origin): Anglicized form of French Bruyère (see Bruyere) a habitational name from a place so called in Calvados France from Old French bruiere ‘heath’.3: Americanized form (translation into English) of Dutch Brouwer German Brauer or Breuer etc. all occupational names meaning ‘brewer’.
Brewster : English: occupational name for a brewer of beer or ale from Middle English brewestere browestere ‘(female) brewer’ (from Old English brēowan ‘to brew’). Brewer is the usual term in southern England while Brewster is mainly midland northern and Scottish.
Brouwer : Dutch: occupational name for a brewer of beer or ale Middle Dutch brouwere. This surname is also found in Germany.
Brow : 1: English: either a descriptive nickname for someone with bushy or otherwise distinctive eyebrows from Middle English broue ‘eyebrow eyelid forehead’ (Old English brū) but more likely a topographic name for someone who lived at the brow of a hill from a transferred use of the same word; surnames of the type de la Browe are recorded from the end of the 13th century.2: Altered form of French Brault and also of American French Breaux. Compare Bro and Broe.3: Americanized form of Dutch Brouw: perhaps a nominal variant of Op den Brouw a habitational name for someone living at the ‘Brouw’ a toponym of unclear origin or just a place for beer brewing (Brouw being a shortened form of brouwen ‘to brew’ or brouwer ‘brewer’).
Casebeer : Americanized form of German Käsebier literally ‘cheese (and) beer’ a metonymic occupational name for a tavern keeper who served only cold food or according to another explanation altered from Kas(e)beer ‘cherry berry’ (Middle High German kerse + beer bier) a metonymic occupational name for a grower and seller of cherries.
De Beer : 1: Dutch; Flemish (also Debeer): nickname for someone thought to resemble a bear or a boar from Dutch beer ‘bear boar’ + the definite article de or a topographic or habitational name referring to a house distinguished by the sign of a bear named for instance In de Berendans (‘In the Dancing Bear’). The surname De Beer is also established in South Africa.2: Jewish (Ashkenazic from the Netherlands): variant of Ber influenced by Dutch de beer ‘the bear’ (compare 1).
Firkin : from Middle English fir(de)kin ‘wooden cask; quarter of a barrel (as a measure of capacity)’ for a cooper or beer seller or perhaps for a heavy drinker.
Firkins : English (West Midlands): patronymic from Firkin a metonymic occupational name for a cooper or beer seller or perhaps for a heavy drinker from Middle English fir(de)kin ‘wooden cask; quarter of a barrel (as a measure of capacity)’ probably from a Middle Dutch diminutive of vierde ‘fourth (part)’. As a measure of capacity a firkin was reckoned as a quarter of a barrel.
Hopf : German: metonymic occupational name for a grower of hops or dealer in hops or a metonymic occupational name for a brewer from the use of hops in the manufacture of beer from Middle High German hopfe ‘hops’.
Kantner : 1: East German: habitational name for someone from either of the places called Kanten in former East Prussia or Silesia.2: German: occupational name for someone who made wooden racks or trestles for beer and wine barrels from an agent derivative of Middle High German ganter kanter ‘barrel rack’.
Knepshield : Americanized form of German Knippschild a nickname for a brave fighter from Low German knippen ‘to shoot flick’ + schild ‘shield’ or for a tavern owner or a beer drinker from the same word denoting a light beer (Weissbier ‘wheat beer’).
Mumpower : Probably an Americanized form of German Mumper or of Mumbrauer an occupational name in Braunschweig (Brunswick) for a brewer of a local beer called Mumme. A heavily hopped barley beer with low alcohol content it was first brewed in 1492 by a man named Mumme.
Peil : 1: Dutch: metonymic occupational name from Middle Dutch pegel peil a mark used in measuring liquids or a measure of the strength of beer.2: Dutch: variant of Peel.3: Americanized form of Dutch Pijl; metonymic occupational name for a maker of arrows or an archer from pijl ‘arrow’.4: German: variant of Pfeil and in North America (also) an altered form of this.5: German: from a short form (Bilo) of an ancient Germanic personal name related to Old Saxon bīl ‘sword’.
Pivec : 1: Slovenian: from pivec ‘drinker’ most likely applied as a nickname to a drunkard.2: Czech: from old Czech pivce a diminutive of pivo ‘beer’ used as a nickname for a beer drinker.
Schluckebier : German: nickname for a heavy drinker or for someone who slurped his beer.
Schroeder : North German (mainly Schröder): occupational name for a cloth cutter or tailor from an agent derivative of Middle Low German schrōden schrāden ‘to cut’. The same term was occasionally used to denote a grist miller as well as a shoemaker whose work included cutting leather and also a drayman one who delivered beer and wine in bulk to customers; in some instances the surname may have been acquired in either of these senses. This surname is also found France (Alsace and Lorraine) and Poland. Compare Schroder.
Spilka : 1: Czech: metonymic occupational name for a brewer from spilka denoting a part of a brewery. It may also be a nickname for a beer drinker.2: Czech and Slovak (Špilka): nickname from dialect špilka ‘small stick’ (compare Polish name below).3: Americanized form of Polish Szpilka: nickname or metonymic occupational name from szpilka ‘needle (hair)pin’ also ‘awl’.
Tappe : 1: North German: metonymic occupational name for the owner of a tavern a beer or wine tapper from Middle Low German tappe ‘tap’.2: German: variant of Tapp.3: English: variant of Tapp. This surname has now died out in Britain.
Tepper : 1: North German: occupational name for a wine or beer merchant or a tavern owner Middle Low German tepper.2: German: variant of Töpfer (see Toepfer).3: Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Teper.
Trester : German: from Middle High German trester ‘sediment from the pressing or fermentation of grapes and from beer brewing’ (from trestern ‘to press grapes’) presumably a nickname for a worthless person.
Zehner : German: occupational name for an official responsible for collecting on behalf of the lord of the manor tithes of agricultural produce owed as rent. The more prosperous tenants had to contribute wine and grain those with smaller holdings fruit vegetables milk cheese beer and poultry. The Middle High German term for this official was zehendære a derivative of zehende ‘tenth part tithe’ (Old High German zehanto from zehan ‘ten’). Compare Zenor.
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
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