Meryweather Surname

3,185,033rd
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 38 people bear this surname

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

Meryweather 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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Meryweather Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States381:9,538,393399,091
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England181:1,354,18747,798
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States311:1,619,95885,073

Meryweather 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

Meryweather Last Name Facts

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

Meryweather occurs most in The United States. It may be found as:. For other possible spellings of this surname click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Meryweather? popularity and diffusion

This surname is the 3,185,033rd most widespread surname world-wide It is held by around 1 in 191,777,524 people. The last name is primarily found in The Americas, where 100 percent of Meryweather live; 100 percent live in North America and 100 percent live in Anglo-North America.

This last name is most widespread in The United States, where it is borne by 38 people, or 1 in 9,538,393. In The United States it is most numerous in: California, where 26 percent are found, Pennsylvania, where 13 percent are found and Tennessee, where 13 percent are found.

Meryweather Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The prevalency of Meryweather has changed through the years. In The United States the share of the population with the last name increased 123 percent between 1880 and 2014.

Meryweather Last Name Statistics demography

In The United States those bearing the Meryweather surname are 23.23% more likely to be registered Republicans than The US average, with 70% being registered with the party.

Meryweather earn a lot less than the average income. In United States they earn 36.65% less than the national average, earning $27,335 USD per year.

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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 Meryweather
  • 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