Favors
An English surname that likely began as a nickname or a variant spelling connected with “favor” or “favours.”
The #7,730 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 71,885 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is most likely tied to the English word favor, from Old French favor and ultimately Latin favor, meaning goodwill, support, or gracious treatment. In surname use, it may have started as a nickname for someone thought to be favored, favorable, or in favor with others, though the ending -s could also reflect a later spelling variant or patronymic-style form. Because the historical excerpts provided only mention the word in passing, the exact path to the surname form Favors cannot be confirmed with confidence.
History
The name is rare in the United States and may reflect an English surname that was later standardized in a spelling influenced by the common noun favor/favours. Forms like Favour and Favours are more typical in older English records, while Favors may be an Americanized spelling. No strong historical bearer trail is evident from the supplied sources.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The spelling Favors looks plural, but in surnames that often happens when a word-name was passed down with a fixed family spelling.
From the historical record
“a surnarae, but another name. There is, how- ever* another point of consideration which rather favors the opposite view — and this la that an nnusiial number of persona with thiB name seem to have been churchmen. There are four Anglo-Saxon bishops and one priest bearing the name singly or in com pounds. And out of…”
— English Surnames, and their place in the Teutonic family