Frequency: (193)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. Irish and Manx: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Guaire (see McQuarrie).
2. English (of Norman origin): nickname for a thickset or portly man, from Anglo-Norman French quaré ‘square’. Compare Carré (see Carre).
3. English: from Middle English quarey ‘quarry’, a topographic name for someone who lived near a stone quarry, or a metonymic occupational name for someone who worked in one.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
