Dear
An English surname that may have begun as a nickname for someone “dear” or beloved, though in some cases it may relate to the deer.
The #8,906 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 83,967 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Dear is usually explained in two different ways. One possibility is that it comes from the Old French and Latin word for “dear” or “beloved” (French cher, Latin carus), used as a nickname or term of endearment. Another possibility is that it goes back to Old English deor, meaning “deer,” which could have been used as a personal name or nickname. Historical sources also note an early personal name Deor in Old English records, so the surname may have more than one independent origin.
History
The name appears in English records early enough to have several possible lineages, and later writers were already unsure whether to connect it with “dear/beloved” or with the animal name “deer.” In practice, modern bearers of Dear may descend from more than one unrelated family line. Because the spelling is short and common, it could also have been influenced by later spelling simplification.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century source even suggested that the Lancashire pronunciation was closer to “DUR” or “DEER” than the spelling might imply.
From the historical record
“shire. DEAR. 1. Appears to be synonymous with the Fr. family name Cher, the Latin Cams, &c. 2. Deor occurs in the Codox Exoniensis as a personal name. It is doubtless derived from the deer, so spelt in A-Sax. DEARDEN. Evidently local, perhaps from a place so called near Edenfield in Bury, CO. Lancaster. " The…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom