Showers
An English surname likely from an old word for a shoemaker, though it can also have developed from the word for a rain shower in some cases.
The #6,551 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 59,707 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The strongest historical suggestion is that Showers belongs with surnames derived from an Old English word for a shoemaker or “shoer,” from *scoere* or a related form. That makes it an occupational surname, originally referring to someone who made or repaired shoes. Some later writers also connected it with words for showers of rain, but that explanation is less likely as a surname origin in the historical dictionaries.
History
19th-century surname writers such as Ferguson and Lower treated Showers as a variant or related form in the shoemaker-name group. The name is established in England and later appears in American records as well. Because the spelling overlaps with the common noun *showers*, occasional folk reinterpretation is possible, but the surname tradition is older than that.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some early surname scholars grouped Showers with other occupational names for shoemakers, which is why it appears alongside forms like Shoer and Showler in old dictionaries.
From the historical record
“implement in his work. SHOWERS. Mr. Ferguson says A-Sax. scoere, a " shoer," or maker of shoes. SHOWLER. The same as Shoveller- a shovel in several dialects being called a shoivl. " AVIio'll dig his grave ? I snys tlie Owl ; With my spade and shou'l, I'll dig his grave."”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom