Question About My Surname?

1. Tina Says

   Power Name Meaning and History
   1.Irish (Leinster and Munster) and English (of Norman origin): habitational name for someone from Pois, a place in Picardy (said to have been named with Old French pois ‘fish’ because of its well-stocked river), from Old French Pohier ‘native of Pois’.
   2.English: nickname for a poor man, or ironically for a miser, from Middle English, Old French povre, poure ‘poor’ (Latin pauper). Woulfe gives this also as the meaning of the Norman Irish name, which in early records is found as le Poer, believing it to be a nickname for someone who has taken a vow of poverty. http://www.ancestry.com/facts/Power-fami…
   Power Surname
   This surname has two distinct possible origins, each with its own history and derivation. Firstly, the name may be locational from the Old French “Pohier”, indicating a native of Pois, a town in Picardy, North France, so called from the Old French “pois”, fish, because of its well-stocked rivers. Locational surnames were originally given to the lord of the manor, or as a means of identification to those who left their place of origin to settle elsewhere. The surname from this source was introduced into England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. It entered Ireland in 1170 when a bearer of the name le Poer took part in Strongbow’s invasion of Wexford. The name, initially Gaelicized “de Paor”, and later Anglicized “Power”, became one of the most completely Hibernicized of the surnames introduced at the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion. Poore may also have originated as a nickname for a poor man, or ironically for a miser, from the Middle English and Old French “povre, poure”, poor. In the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex, dated 1296 to 1332, the name appears as “le Poer, le Power”, and “Power”, and Richard le Poor, Poore or Poure (deceased 1237), was successively bishop of Chichester, Salisbury, and Durham. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Drogo Poher, which was dated 1127, in the “Ancient Charters of Gloucestershire”, during the reign of King Henry 1, known as “The Lion of Justice”, 1100 – 1135.
   Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Power#i…
   Power Surname
   The surname of POWER was a derivation of the Old English word Poer. The name was taken to Ireland by early settlers, where it has become one of the fifty most common names. The name arrived as Le Poer with the Anglo-Normans into Ireland, at the end of the 12th century. The family first settled in County Waterford, and the original spelling of Poer did not vanish entirely, surviving in the title of Baron Le Poer, and in the last century, one family, which had long since called themselves Power, assumed instead the surname of de la Poer. Early records of the name in England mention John le Poer who was recorded in County Yorkshire in the year 1273. Warin le Powre, was documented in County Yorkshire, in the year of 1300. Ralph de Power of Yorkshire was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Robert Power married Elizabeth Gilbert at St. James’s, Clerkenwell, London in 1561. Susanna Power was baptised at St. James’s, Clerkenwell, London in 1669. The name in Gaelic is de Paor. http://www.4crests.com/power-coat-of-arm…
   The Power surname could be Irish or English (of Norman origin): habitational name for someone from Pois, a place in Picardy, from Old French Pohier, native of Pois’. If you were born in Ireland, you are Irish but realistically no one is 100% anything because of the history of our nations and their colonization. If you don’t do an accurate family tree to discover all of you ancestors, at least look at the history of you country and its wars in ancient times.

2. Anonymous Says

   Im no help although i cant help but say that is one awesome name xD Beats mine thats for sure.

3. Clare Says

   If you know it’s Norman, that’s wonderful! Of course if it’s a Norman name, it means chances are someone’s come from the French speaking part of England, or even France.
   Now don’t forget your mother’s ancestry. And your father’s mother’s ancestry. You don’t know where they come from — surnames everywhere!!! Someone, in anyone of those spots on the family tree, might have migrated to Europe from elsewhere. Unless you do a family tree back to Africa, you’ll never know.
   We’re all global citizens. But we can identify from a certain country whenever we please. Just buy a 100% Irish t-shirt and Bob’s Your Uncle (even if he did traipse across from the Middle East in 832).

4. Joyce B Says

   If you were born in Ireland and all of your known ancestors also lived in Ireland, you are Irish.
   Power Name Meaning and History
   Irish (Lester and Munster) and English (of Norman origin): habitations name for someone from Po is, a place in PACKARD (said to have been named with Old French poi’s ‘fish’ because of its well-stocked river), from Old French Pokier ‘native of Po is’.
   English: nickname for a poor man, or ironically for a miser, from Middle English, Old French PVR, PURE ‘poor’ (Latin pauper). Wolfe gives this also as the meaning of the Norman Irish name, which in early records is found as le Pier, believing it to be a nickname for someone who has taken a vow of poverty.
   Source(s):
   ancestry.com

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