Beer
A surname usually from a place-name, especially people from one of several English places called Beer.
The #5,829 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 52,056 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally explained as locational, from the English place-name Beer. Lower explicitly connects the surname to several places in Devon and Dorset called Beer, and notes that the name is not from the beverage. The place-name itself is usually taken from Old English roots referring to a grove or wooded area, though historical spelling and sense can vary by locality. In some cases, unrelated surnames with similar spelling may also have arisen independently.
History
The name appears in medieval records in forms such as le Ber and Beer/Beare. It is especially associated with southwestern England, where place-names like Beer-Alston, Beer-Ferris, Beer-Hacket, and Beer-Regis helped sustain the surname. Because the spelling overlaps with the word for ale, later writers sometimes discussed it alongside occupational drink-related surnames, but the family name itself is usually local rather than occupational.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Nineteenth-century surname writers specifically warned that Beer the surname is not the same as the drink-related word beer.
From the historical record
“Beaumont. BEER. BEERE. BEARE. 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. BEESON. A corruption of Beeston. BEESTON. Parishes, &c. in cos. Bed- ford, Chester, Norfolk, Notts and York. BEET.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom