Explore the Family Name Geater

The meaning of Geater

English (Suffolk, Kent, Sussex): either a nickname from Middle English get(t)our, jet(t)our ‘person who behaves ostentatiously; a boastful or swaggering person’, or an occupational name from Anglo-Norman French get(t)our ‘caster of metal’, an agent derivative of get(t)er, jet(t)er ‘to throw (something); to cast (in metal)’. The occupation usually involved making everyday domestic items such as buckles and cooking pots but sometimes special commissions such as bells and (from the mid-14th century) cannons. History: The earliest known bearer of this name was a mariner, William le Get(t)our or Jetour, who was based at east coast ports in England, especially Berwick on Tweed (Northumberland). He served Edward I in the first of the Scottish wars of independence (1296–1328), becoming Admiral of the Fleet in 1310. The surname also occurs in southern counties of England in the 14th century and in Suffolk in the 15th century.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.