Dear Family History

English: from the Middle English personal name Dere successor of the Old English Dēor(a) itself a short form of various compound names formed with dēore ‘dear beloved' or directly from a nickname deriving from Middle English dere ‘dear beloved’ or dere ‘fierce brave bold’. Dēor(a) was quite a common Old English byname which remained current as a personal name into the 14th century. The surname may derive at least in part from this use and in part also from a Middle English nickname.

English: nickname from Middle English der Old English dēor ‘wild animal; deer’ or from the adjective of the same form meaning ‘wild fierce’ perhaps denoting a fast runner or someone easily frightened.

By the Middle English period the adjective was falling out of use and the noun was beginning to be restricted to the sense of modern English deer so this may be the sense behind the surname in some cases.

Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 謝 see Xie.