This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'at the bere,' i.e. at the byre, the farmstead, cowshed, or village; v. Words and Places; compare Coneybeare. Common in Devonshire place-names. The same as by in Formby, Rugby, Willoughby, &c.; compare such places as Bere Ferrers, Bere Regis, Beer Alston, Beer Hacket, Langabeer, all in Devonshire and Dorset district.

John de Bere, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

Robert atte Bere, Somerset, 1 Edward III: ibid.

William atte Byr, Hertfordshire., Henry III-Edward I: Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I.

Lucy de la Bere, Devon: ibid.

Elyas dela Byare, Devon, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

John de la Byare, Devon, ibid.

Reginald de Bere, Devon, ibid.

Richard de la Bere, Bedfordshire, 20 Edward I: Placita de Quo Warranto, temp. Edward I-III.

Robert de la Bere, Southamptonshire, ibid.

John Bere, or Beere, 1534, rector of Endellion, Cornwall: Register of the University of Oxford.

1614. Married — Favor Beare and Catherine Powell: St. Mary Aldermary.

1713. — Samuel Keymer and Sarah Beer: ibid.

i) Local; v. Beer, (a) Nick. 'the bear,' one of surly temper. A common entry in early registers.

Robert le Ber, Kent 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Adam le Bere, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Clement le Bere, Oxfordshire, ibid.

Walter le Bere, Oxfordshire, ibid.

1614. Married — --- Beare and Catherine Powell: St. Mary Aldermary.

Probably local. Baer, Beer, Bere (Old English baer(e), pasture in wooded districts) is common in place names, simple and compound, in the English Midlands. There is also Old English bearu, a wood. William Beir, indweller in the Fischerrawe 1634 (RPC., 2. ser. V, p. 578). Alexander Bier in Edinburgh, 1680 (Edinb. Marr.). Robert Beer in Linlithgow, 1684 (RPC., 3. ser. X, p. 261). John Beer, fanner, Linkbraeheads, d. 1799 (Fordyce, p. 91).

(English) 1 a nickname and sign-name from the Bear. [Middle English bere, Old English bera] Adam le Bere.—Hundred Rolls 2 Dweller at a Grove. [Old English bearu]

(German, English) Dweller at the sign of the bear; one thought to possess bearlike qualities. The bear was the king of beasts in the north of Europe.

A gentleman in Kent, some years since, rejoiced in the Christian and sur-(or rather un-christian and sur-ly)names of Savage Bear. English Sum. Although I do not recollect any other instance of this name in modern English, the nomenclature of many European countries, both personal and local, abounds with it in various forms.

Two places on the banks of the Tamar, in co. Devon, are called Beer-Alston and Beer-Ferris, while two others in Dorsetshire bear the names of Beer-Hacket and Beer-Regis.

Ferguson says Beer is the same as Bear, from Anglo-Saxon bar, a bear, Old Norse bera, Old High German bero, D. beer; but this name is more probably from Beer-Alston or Beer-Ferris (Ferrers) in Devon, or Beer-Hacket or Beer-Regis in Dorset.

From the Old Norse, Bera; from the Danish, Bjerre; in the Domesday Book, Bere; from the Dutch-Flemish, Beer, Behr; from the German, Behr; a personal name.