Squire Family History
Squire Name Meaning
English: status name occupational name or a nickname from Middle English squyer squer skier sker northern Middle English swire (Old French escuyer escuier) ‘shield bearer esquire personal attendant to a knight; landowner below the rank of knight; young man of gentle birth; household attendant retainer page messenger’. Many early bearers of this name were of modest means and cannot have been members of the gentry; in such cases the name may have been used hyperbolically for a low-ranking servant or as a nickname. By the 17th century the term denoted any member of the landed gentry but this is unlikely to have influenced the development of the surname.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022