Latimer
An occupational surname from Middle English for a translator or interpreter, especially one who worked between English and Welsh.
The #3,653 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 31,722 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Latimer comes from Middle English latinier or latinier-type forms, ultimately from Latinarius, meaning a Latin speaker or interpreter. In medieval England, a latimer was an interpreter, especially in border regions where English and Welsh speakers needed mediation. The surname began as a job-title and was then inherited like many other medieval occupational names.
History
The name is well attested in medieval records, and the historical sources link it specifically to service as an interpreter between English and Welsh. It later became established as a hereditary surname in England and spread with English-speaking populations to other regions. The spelling was relatively stable, though older records may show forms like Latiner or Bastimer in manuscript and OCR variants.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some early sources explicitly gloss the word as meaning “interpreter,” which makes Latimer one of the more transparent occupational surnames.
From the historical record
“The change in suffixes ending in all or ol, to aw or ot, is curious but natural. Hence Bristow for Bristol. There is one BristoU in the London Directory to twenty-four Bristows, Latimer, writing to Thomas Cromwell, speaks of the bishop of ' Gloucester and Bristow.' A farmer in the North tells you he is going ' to…”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances