Pomeroy
A French habitational surname meaning “at the apple orchard,” later borne by a Norman family established in Devon.
The #4,792 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 41,852 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained from Old French la pommeraye, meaning an apple orchard or apple grove, ultimately from Latin pomum, “fruit” or “apple.” The name would originally have identified someone who lived by, or came from, such a place. Some 19th-century writers also linked it with a Norman family name and with Berry Pomeroy in Devon, which preserves the surname in a place-name.
History
The name appears in medieval Norman and English records in forms such as de la Pomeraye, Pomeray, and Pomeroy. A Norman family of this name is associated with landholding in Devon after the Conquest, and Berry Pomeroy in Devon takes its second element from that family. Modern bearers of the surname are found mainly in English-speaking countries.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Berry Pomeroy in Devon is one of the best-known place-names preserving the surname, rather than the surname being derived from the village alone.
From the historical record
“[Heb. mdrdh] POMEROY ] (A.-Fr.-Lat. ) Dweller at an POMMERY I Apple - Orchard [Fr. pom- POMROY ymeraie, apple - orchard ; L.Lat. pomeretum (re/«»«, plantation suff.), apple- orchard, fruit-garden; Lat. pomarium, orchard — pom-um, any kind of fruit] Henry de la Pomeraye.— /?««(/. Rolls. La Pommeray is a Calvados…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)