Barringer
A surname from the old Germanic personal name Berengarius, later seen in forms like Beringer and Berringer.
The #5,037 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 44,335 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Barringer is generally explained as a surname built from the old personal name Berengarius, a Germanic name that passed into medieval Latin and Old French. In this tradition, the name is related to forms such as Berenger and Beringer, and Barringer is essentially an English surname formed from that given-name base. The exact pathway of spelling change is not always certain, but the name is not usually treated as occupational or locational.
History
19th-century surname writers regularly grouped Barringer with Beringer/Berringer and derived it from Berengarius. The name appears in English records by the 16th and 17th centuries, and its spelling has varied quite a bit, which is typical of surnames that developed before modern standardization. Some later writers also note confusion among similar forms such as Bellinger and Ballinger.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books sometimes list Barringer alongside several look-alike names because medieval spelling was so fluid that r, l, and n could be confused in records.
From the historical record
“mon in France and England. BARRINGER. The old Tentonic per- sonal name Berengarius, whence also the - Fr. Beranger. BARRING TON. Some of the families of this name claim a Norman descent, and derive their name from Bareutou (which see). The Irish baronet deduces himself from a Saxon progenitor, keeper of the Forest…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom