Bridgewater
A locational surname meaning “from Bridgewater,” the Somerset town now usually called Bridgwater.
The #8,532 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 80,048 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bridgewater is a place-name surname taken from Bridgewater in Somerset, England. The name refers to the town by the river bridge or bridge crossing there, and the surname originally identified someone who had come from that place. Older surname dictionaries treat it straightforwardly as a local name.
History
The name appears in English records as people moved away from Somerset and were identified by their place of origin. Historical surname writers also note that the spelling often varied, especially outside the home county. The modern town spelling is usually Bridgwater, but the surname has long used Bridgewater.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname preserves the older, more familiar spelling of the Somerset town whose modern official form is usually Bridgwater.
From the historical record
“Names. BRIDGEWATER. A town in Somerset. BRIDGINIAN. From the remotest anti- quity, the building of bridges was considered a pious and charitalile deed, and hence the erection and custody of them Avas confided to the priestliood. The Roman pontifices or liigher order of priests Avere so styled a pontc fadokdo. In…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom