Widmer
A surname with both English and German roots, often explained as a place-name or as a worker on church land.
The #9,722 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 92,550 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name has more than one plausible origin. In English sources, it is explained either as a reduced form of a place-name such as Widmerpool in Nottinghamshire, or more generally as someone who lived by a wide mere, meaning a broad lake or pool. German surname tradition also gives Widmer as an occupational name for a peasant who worked church land, from words meaning church property or endowment.
History
In England, the name is linked to medieval forms connected with Widmerpool in Nottinghamshire, and records show it in use by the 13th century. In German-speaking areas, Widmer became established as a surname for tenants or farmers attached to church lands, and that sense is well represented in later surname dictionaries. The name is not especially common, but it appears independently in both English and German naming traditions.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One old English explanation connects the name to Widmerpool, whose medieval forms literally preserve the phrase 'Widmer's pool.'
From the historical record
“q.v. WIDMER (Eng.) i the A.-Sax. pers. name Widmckr = Far-Famed [O.E. wid, wide, far -{- mikre, famous] 2 Dweller at the Wide Mere [O.E. wid -f- mere, a lake] Widmerpool, Notts, is 'Widmeer's Pool', as the I2th-cent. form Widmespol and the”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)