Frequency: (433)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. French: variant of Rivière, Rivoire, or Rivier, topographic name for someone living on the banks of a river, French rivier ‘bank’, or habitational name from any of the many places in France named with this word.
2. English: nickname from Middle English revere ‘reiver’, ‘robber’.
3. English: topographic name for someone who lived on the brow of a hill, from a misdivision of the Middle English phrase atter evere ‘at the brow or edge’ (from Old English yfer, efer ‘edge’) or a habitational name from a place named with this phrase, as for example River in West Sussex or Rivar in Wiltshire.
4. Jewish (from Italy): habitational name from a place in Mantua named Revere.
FOREBEARS: The MA patriot Paul Revere (1734-1818), who in April 1775 undertook a famous ride from Boston to Lexington to warn of the approach of British troops, was a silversmith and instrument maker. He was descended from French Huguenots called Rivoire.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
