Clan Weir - Surname Origin

This interesting and unusual name "Weir", with variant spellings Wear, Were, Where etc. derives from two possible origins. Firstly, it may be topographical for a dweller by a dam, or keeper of a fishing-weir, from the Old English word "wer", weir, dam, fish-trap. It may also be topographic for someone who lived by the North English river "Wear", called "Vedra" in Ptolemy's "Geographina", a Celtic word meaning simply "water". In Scotland, it is believed to be of Norman origin from various places in Calvados, Manche, Eure-et-Loire and Orne called "Vere", ultimately from the Old Norse element "Ver", or dam.