Dew
A surname most likely taken from the Norman place-name Eu, rather than from the English word for morning moisture.
The #5,561 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 49,383 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Dew is usually explained as a shortened form of the Norman place-name Eu, especially the settlement called la Ville d’Eu. In this reading, it is a locational surname brought to England by Norman families after the Conquest. Some later writers repeated this explanation, and it remains the standard historical account in the older surname dictionaries cited here.
History
Lower and Charnock both record Dew as likely Norman in origin. The form is relatively uncommon and seems to have survived as a short surname in England without many documented branches. Because it is so brief, it has sometimes been mistaken for a nickname from the English word "dew," but the historical etymology points instead to the French place-name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Its spelling matches the English word "dew," but the surname is usually not related to weather at all.
From the historical record
“DEVONSHIRE. From the county. DEW. Probably from Eu in Normandy, commonly called la Ville (VEu. DEWAR. A hamlet in the parish of Heriot, Edinburghshire. The patriarch of the flimily is said to have received the lands of Dewar in reward for his having slain a formidable wolf. Gaz. of Scotlancl. DEWDNEY. See Doudney.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom