Waterer Family History

From Middle English waterer, denoting one who lived by a stretch of water such as a village pond or a stream, as proven by the 1547–50 alias Atwater. Topographic names in -er were especially common in Surrey, Sussex, and Hants.

This example became particularly numerous as a hereditary surname in Surrey, where it was still most frequent in the 1881 Census. There is no evidence to support Reaney's view that the name was occupational from Middle English waterer ‘a person responsible for watering animals’ (attested once before 1500 in MED).

Additionally, there is no support for Cottle's view that it meant ‘water-seller’.