Seymore
A spelling variant of Seymour, a surname usually traced to a Norman French place name meaning “St. Maur.”
The #7,445 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 69,009 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Seymore is a spelling variant of Seymour. The name is generally taken from a Norman French place name, Saint-Maur, built from the saint’s name Maurus, meaning “Moor” or “dark-skinned,” with later French and English spelling changes producing forms such as Seymour, Semore, and Seymore. Older antiquarian writers sometimes proposed a very different Germanic origin, but that explanation is not the standard one today.
History
The surname became established in England after the Norman Conquest and was later carried to Ireland and other English-speaking regions. Historical sources from the 1800s and early 1900s record Seymore as one of several spellings beside Seymour. The name is also well known from the English Seymour family, including the Tudor period.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Nineteenth-century etymologists sometimes argued over this name’s origins, and one source even linked it to a Germanic personal name; modern references usually prefer the Norman place-name explanation.
From the historical record
“Sears. SAOtnAft, Semore, Seymore, Se- mour, Seymour, etc. SAorhA|i, Seaver. ScAmcijn, SceAimicin, Scama-”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnames