Vavasseur Surname

288,238th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 1,331 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
France
Highest density in:
New Caledonia

Vavasseur Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from an official title. 'the Vavasseur' (which see), seemingly an early modification.

Nicholas Vausour, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

1743. Married — Henry Vawser and Ann Bui I: n: St. George's Chapel, Mayfair.

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Vavasseur Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
France1,1201:59,3067,966
United States1621:2,237,401140,088
New Caledonia211:13,1533,514
Australia111:2,454,155103,534
Germany31:26,835,153452,368
Switzerland31:2,737,638105,941
Czechia21:5,316,734169,646
Denmark21:2,822,35876,882
Ireland11:4,708,93929,543
Brazil11:214,074,3321,693,628
French Polynesia11:280,8057,211
Ivory Coast11:23,071,23276,679
Poland11:38,008,749231,653
Senegal11:14,579,34211,705
Thailand11:70,638,3451,175,915
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England111:2,215,94364,354

Vavasseur Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from an official title. 'the Vavasseur' (which see), seemingly an early modification.

Nicholas Vausour, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

1743. Married — Henry Vawser and Ann Bui I: n: St. George's Chapel, Mayfair.

1749. — James Vassar and Ann Johnson: St. George, Hanover Square.

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

This surname is derived from an official title. 'the vavasour,' a principal vassal, holding of a great lord, a man of second rank, one of the inferior nobility. 'Vavasour, antiently a Nobleman, next in dignity to a Baron': Bailey's Dict. (1742).

'Bothe Knightes and vavasour, This damisels love paramour.' - Arthour and Merlin, (Halliwell).

Reginald le Vavassur, Berkshire, Henry III.- Edward I: Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I.

Adam le Vavasour, Buckinghamshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Maueer le Vavasur, Yorkshire, 20 Edward I: Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I.

This latter personal name was evidently handed down in the family, as the following entry, four hundred years later, fully demonstrates:

1696. Maugre Vavasour, of St. Ann's, Holborn, gent., and Mary Moor: Marriage Lic. (London).

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

VASSYR: A shortened form of Vavasour (an under vassal having other vassals under him). John Vazour was a member of the Guild of Ayr, c. 1431 (Coll. AGAA., I, p. 228). Robert Vassyr in Edinburgh, 1482 (CDE., 52).

The Surnames of Scotland (1946) by George Fraser Black (1866-1948)

(Anglo-French-Celt.) Under-Vassal [Anglo-French vavassur,vavaso(u)r (French vavasseur); from Low Latin vassus vassorum, vassal of vassals: v. under Vass] Will’us le Vavassur.—Pipe-Rolls, A.D. 1187-8.

Joh’es le Vavasor.—Charter-Rolls, A.D. 1251-2 Adam le Vavasour.—Hund.-Rolls, A.D. 1274.

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

A dignity of somewhat doubtful origin and import. Sir John Ferne regards it as the equivalent of Ranneret. "These Vavasours," says he, "were called by an ancient English lawyer (Bracton), Viri magnae dignitatis: men of great dignitye. And this worde Vavasor he interpreteth to be this: Vas sortitum ad valetudinem, a man chosen for his valour and prowesse, placinge them above the dignitye of knighthood." Blazon of Gentrie, p. 102. Vavasores Regis, who occur in Domesday Book, "are much the same with Liberi homines Regis." Selden's Titles of Honour, p. 625. Chaucer, in his description of the Frankelein, or great freeholder, says, there —

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

From the French, Vavasseur, Le Vavasseur; a personal name.

British Family Names: Their Origin and Meaning (1903) by Henry Barber

Vavasseur Last Name Facts

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

The last name Vavasseur is more commonly found in France than any other country or territory. It can also be rendered in the variant forms:. For other potential spellings of this last name click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Vavasseur? popularity and diffusion

The last name Vavasseur is the 288,238th most commonly held surname on a global scale, held by around 1 in 5,475,241 people. The last name Vavasseur occurs predominantly in Europe, where 85 percent of Vavasseur are found; 85 percent are found in Western Europe and 84 percent are found in Gallo-Europe.

This last name is most frequently held in France, where it is held by 1,120 people, or 1 in 59,306. In France it is primarily concentrated in: Normandy, where 27 percent reside, Île-de-France, where 21 percent reside and Pays de la Loire, where 13 percent reside. Other than France this surname occurs in 14 countries. It is also common in The United States, where 12 percent reside and New Caledonia, where 2 percent reside.

Vavasseur Last Name Statistics demography

In The United States those holding the Vavasseur surname are 22.46% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than The US average, with 69.23% being registered with the party.

Vavasseur earn somewhat less than the average income. In United States they earn 11.31% less than the national average, earning $38,268 USD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Vavaseur943/
Vavasser941/
Wavasseur8928/
Vavassuer891/
Vavasour82404/
Vavassor821/
Vavassore785/
Vavasor758/
Bavasur751/
Vavasar751/
Bavassar711/

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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 Vavasseur
  • 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