Merewether Surname

1,155,901st
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 207 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
New Zealand

Merewether Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'merry weather'; a happy, genial, sunshiny fellow; a colloquial expression. Nothing to do with a wether sheep. compare Fairweather, used in exactly a similar sense, and still existing as a surname.

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Merewether Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States1181:3,071,686178,560
England351:1,591,94567,242
Australia211:1,285,51068,491
New Zealand181:251,57423,165
Singapore131:423,66918,211
Canada11:36,845,591464,108
Thailand11:70,638,3451,175,915
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England341:716,92333,560
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States621:809,97950,387

Merewether Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'merry weather'; a happy, genial, sunshiny fellow; a colloquial expression. Nothing to do with a wether sheep. compare Fairweather, used in exactly a similar sense, and still existing as a surname.' Fayre, mery wedur or tyme fayir as wedyr, amenus': Promptorium Parvulorum 'Myryweder, or softe weder, malaria' (ibid). Merry is here used in the sense of pleasant. Way adds a quotation from Vegecius, attributed to Trevisa, Roy. MS. 18 A. xii, where it is observed that wise warriors in olden times used to 'occupie theire foot menne in dedes of armes in the felde in mery wedire,' i.e. fair weather (v. Way's edit. Prompt. Parv). As a surname it occurs, among some other fictitious characters, in one of the Coventry Mysteries, where mention is made of 'Bontyng the Brewster, and Sybyly Sfynge, Megge Mery-wedyr, and Sabine Sprynge.'

Andrew Muriweder, Oxfordshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Thomas Murweder, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Henry Muriweder. Issues of the Exchequer.

1617. Married — Thomas Church and Francis Merry weather: St. Peter, Cornhill.

1667. John Ferris and Jane Merrywether (Wiltshire): Marriage Alleg. (Canterbury).

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

Formerly an idiomatic phrase for joy, pleasure, or delight. Halliw. Hence probably applied to a person of hilarious temperament. Fairweather and Fineweather are analogous surnames.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

(found Merywedyr). Halliwell says the word merryweather was formerly an idiomatic phrase for joy, pleasure, or delight. This name is probably from Anglo-Saxon wether, wedder, a ram; Danish, vœder. compare the surnames Fairweather (H.R. Fayrweder), Fearweather, Fineweather, Foulweather, Kieseweather, Starkweather.

Ludus Patronymicus (1868) by Richard Stephen Charnock

MERYWEDYR: An old spelling of Merryweather. See English Surn. i. 36.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

Merewether Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Merewether Come From? nationality or country of origin

Merewether occurs more in The United States more than any other country/territory. It may be rendered in the variant forms:. For other potential spellings of Merewether click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Merewether? popularity and diffusion

The surname is the 1,155,901st most widespread surname in the world. It is borne by approximately 1 in 35,205,536 people. The surname is predominantly found in The Americas, where 57 percent of Merewether live; 57 percent live in North America and 57 percent live in Anglo-North America.

This last name is most commonly occurring in The United States, where it is borne by 118 people, or 1 in 3,071,686. In The United States Merewether is most numerous in: New Mexico, where 25 percent live, California, where 17 percent live and Colorado, where 14 percent live. Outside of The United States this last name is found in 6 countries. It is also common in England, where 17 percent live and Australia, where 10 percent live.

Merewether Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The frequency of Merewether has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people bearing the Merewether last name grew 190 percent between 1880 and 2014 and in England it grew 103 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Merewether Last Name Statistics demography

In The United States those bearing the Merewether last name are 0.1% more likely to be registered with the Democratic Party than the national average, with 53.33% registered with the political party.

Merewether earn notably more than the average income. In United States they earn 18.02% more than the national average, earning $50,925 USD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

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Merewether Reference & Research

Meriwether DNA Website - A web page dedicated to the genetic research of those who bear the surname and its variants.

Meriwether FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Merewether
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis