Mower
An occupational surname for a mower of hay or crops, from an old word for cutting or harvesting grass.
The #9,722 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 92,550 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Mower is an occupational surname from Old English words related to mowing, especially the verb meaning “to cut grass or grain.” In medieval use, it referred to a reaper or field worker who cut hay or crops with a scythe. Some 19th-century writers also connected it with related forms such as Mawer, but the core sense is simply “the mower.”
History
The surname is recorded in England and was later explained by some antiquarian writers as an old occupational name, with an example of an early bearer in post-Conquest tradition. Related surnames such as Mawer, Mather, and Messer show how widely medieval harvest-working terms could become family names. It is not among the most common English surnames, but it has a long English pedigree.
Origin
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Fun fact
One Victorian source linked the name to a legendary early bearer, “Leofric the Mower,” highlighting how memorable harvest occupations could become surnames.
From the historical record
“j\Ieltou -Mowbray, co. Leicester. MOWER. The occupation. An Anglo- Saxon, soon after the Norman Conquest, ac- quired tlris name (Leofric the Mower) from his having o^^ercome twenty men with a scythe. Wright's Essaj's. MOXON. Moggie is a ' nurse-name ' of JIargaret. Moggie's son, would by crasis become IMoxon. See…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom