Ower Family History

Perhaps a variant of Ure. Compare John Ure 1675 in IGI (Dunblane Perths) and James Ure 1678 in IGI (Forfar Angus) with the bearers below. From Ower in Copythorne or Ower in Fawley (both Hants) or The Nower (Kent) with which compare Noar. They are named either from Old English ofer ‘flat-topped ridge’ or Old English ōfer ‘river bank, sea bank, or seashore’ (which in the case of Ower in Fawley was substituted for or confused with Old English ōra ‘bank’).

From Middle English our(e) either ‘flat-topped ridge’ (Old English ofer) or ‘river bank, sea bank, or seashore’ (Old English ōfer) for someone who lived on or near one of these features. Compare (2 i).

Alternative pronunciation of Over which has identical etymologies to those in (2 i and ii). From Owermoigne (Dorset) of uncertain origin recorded as Ogre in 1086 and Our(e) in 13th-century records.