Flower
An English surname that likely began as a nickname for a person admired for beauty, excellence, or a “flower of” some group.
The #8,828 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 83,197 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Flower is usually treated as a nickname or compliment-name rather than a literal trade name. In the sources, it is linked to the idea of a person being the “flower” of a family or company, meaning the finest or most outstanding member. It may also have been influenced by Anglo-Norman French forms such as Le Floer, though the exact path is not fully certain.
History
Lower notes the name in London records and suggests a flattering nickname origin, which fits the broader English pattern of surnames formed from praise terms. The name is relatively uncommon in the historical record, but it has remained established in Britain and later in the United States. Some related or confused forms, such as Flowerday, were sometimes treated as variant developments.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Victorian surname writers often loved “flower” as a prestige nickname, comparing it to phrases like “flower of chivalry.”
From the historical record
“Flanders. FLOWER. The London Directory ex- hibits more than a quarter of a hundred of traders bearing this beautiful surname, wliich proljably had its origin in some pe- culiar manly beauty or excellence, such as that implied iu tlie phrases ' Flower of Chi- valry,' Flower of the Family, kc. Le Floer. H.R.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom