Mathers
An English and Scottish surname that usually means “son of Mather,” though in Scotland it can also point to the place-name Mathers in Kincardineshire.
The #8,526 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 79,986 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Mathers is most commonly explained as a patronymic built from Mather, with the final -s meaning “son of” or “belonging to.” In that sense it is related to names formed from Matthew or Mathew, though some historical writers also linked it to the surname Mather directly rather than to the given name itself. In Scotland, especially in Kincardineshire, the name was also understood as locational, from the village of Mathers in the parish of St. Cyrus.
History
The surname is recorded in medieval and early modern Scotland, where it is associated with the barony and lands of Mathers near St. Cyrus, Kincardineshire. Later family histories connected the name with the Barclys of Mathers and other local landed families. In English usage, it can also be treated as a straightforward patronymic parallel to surnames like Williams or Jones.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The Barclay family of Mathers helped make the name famous in Scottish historical and heraldic writing, especially through accounts of the old Kaim of Mathers fortification.
From the historical record
“here, army] MATHERS, Mather's (Son) ■[„ r. .. MATHERSON, Mather's Son ;^- "^atner. MATHESON for Matthewson, q.v. Prob. occ. also for Matherson, q.v.. In theNorth Highlands AfaMe50« is used as a translation of Macmahon, q.v. MATHEW = Matthew, q.v.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)