Westover
A habitational surname meaning someone who lived by or came from a western bank, shore, or edge.
The #7,071 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 65,219 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Westover is an English locational surname built from Old English west, meaning "west," and ofer, a word for a bank, shore, or edge. In place-name use, it would describe a settlement or district on the western side of a river or boundary, or simply the western bank. The surname therefore originally identified someone from a place called Westover or from a west-facing stretch of land.
History
The name is recorded in medieval English sources and is associated in the excerpts with places in Hampshire and Somerset. Like many locational surnames, it spread when people moved away from the original place and were identified by their home village or district. It later appears in English and American records, where the surname remains relatively uncommon.
Origin
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Fun fact
The Old English element ofer in this surname is related in sense to German Ufer, also meaning a bank or shore.
From the historical record
“Charter-Rolls, A.D. 1270-1. WESTOVER (Eng.) Bel. to Westover (Soms. : A.D. 1325-6 IVestovere] Hants, &c.) = the West Edge, Bank, or Shore [O.E. west + dfer] WESTOW (Eng.) Bel. to Westow = the West Place [O.E. west; and v. Stow(e] WESTRAY (Scand.) i i6th cent. Westwray(e = the West Nook or Corner [O.N.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)