Origin and popularity of the name LEAR

Origin

Lear : 1: English: nickname from Middle English ler ‘cheek face countenance complexion’ (Old English hlēor) used adjectivally to mean ‘beautiful of face’.2: English: variant of Layer.3: Irish: shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Uidhir ‘son of the swarthy lad’ or ‘son of the servant of Odhar’ a byname from odhar (genitive uidhir) ‘dun-colored’ ‘weatherbeaten’. Compare McAleer.

Leary : 1: Irish: shortened Anglicized form of Ó Laoghaire ‘descendant of Laoghaire’ (see O'Leary ).2: English: nickname from an unrecorded Middle English word lery a derivative of Middle English ler Old English hlēor ‘face countenance complexion’. It may have been synonymous with Middle English lere ‘fair of face’ or there may have been Middle English senses that anticipated later uses of leer ‘looking askance; sly underhand’ and leery lairy ‘wary’ or ‘knowing’. Compare Lear.3: English: in Devon this surname alternatively may be a habitational name from Leary Barton in West Buckland. The place may take its name from a lost stream-name of uncertain origin.

O'Lear : Irish: variant of O'Leary.

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Last name frequency

Geographic distribution of the 9,040 individuals with the name LEAR on Geneanet.

This last name in the family trees

See below the Geneanet members' family trees which contain the last name LEAR