What is the origin of the surname "Swyers"? 

I believe it is English, and possibly a corruption of a surname such
as Squire and/or Squires, but I have never been able to get a
definative answer. I was once told that it was a German name, but I
highly doubt that.

If it helps or makes any difference, I am originally from
Newfoundland. While it is by no means a common name there, it is more
common than any other province in Canada (except possibly Ontario).

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Request for Question Clarification by nenna-ga on 15 Jun 2005 17:03 PDT

Good evening aqualung-ga and thank you for posting this genealogy question.

I was not able to find much information about the origin of the Swyers
surname but did come across the following.  If this information is
enough to constitute an answer, please let me know and I will repost
under the answer section.

= = = = = = = = = = 

The surname Swyers was first found in Dorset, England.  It descended
from William d'Eu, Count of Eu, who held the lands of Swyre.

Some of the first settlers of this name or some of its variants were:
Swyer from Somerset, England, who settled at Port Aux Basques,
Newfoundland and William Swiers and Bennett Swyer settled at Sandy
Point, Newfoundland.

Other variations of spelling include Swyre, Svere, Swyer, Swire,
Squires and others.


Source:

House of Names
( http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.fc/qx/swyers-family-crest.htm )


There are a lot of people researching the Swyers name (and their
variations) that you may be able to communicate with to get more
information.  If you would like, I can provide the URL's to all the
sites.


Nenna-GA
Google Researcher

Google Search Term:

Swyer Surname Origin
Swyer Surname Meaning

---

Clarification of Question by aqualung-ga on 15 Jun 2005 17:51 PDT

Interesting ... Bennett Swyer settled at Sandy Point -- which is now
an uninhabited island just offshore of St. George's!

You may consider your comments an answer. As well, please provide me
with the research URL's you mentioned.

Thank you for allowing me to answer this question.  Please find below
the same information posted above in my clarification as well as some
additional links to geneaolgy sites involving the surname SWYERS:

The surname Swyers was first found in Dorset, England.  It descended
from William d'Eu, Count of Eu, who held the lands of Swyre.

Some of the first settlers of this name or some of its variants were:
Swyer from Somerset, England, who settled at Port Aux Basques,
Newfoundland and William Swiers and Bennett Swyer settled at Sandy
Point, Newfoundland.

Other variations of spelling include Swyre, Svere, Swyer, Swire,
Squires and others.


Source:

House of Names
( http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.fc/qx/swyers-family-crest.htm )

= = = = = = = = = =

I found this little clip about Sandy Point:

"...Sandy Point, which is located in Bay Saint George and north of the
town of St. George's, was the first and largest settlement of the west
coast. However, the last settler, Alphonsus Swyers, was forced to
abandon in 1973..."

Source:
Answers.com
( http://www.answers.com/topic/newfoundland )

= = = = = = = = = = =

Here are some websites with people researching the Swyers name (and their
variations) that you may be able to communicate with to get more
information. 

This is where you can find the majority of Swyers researchers:

Rootsweb
( http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=surnames.swyers )


Other sites with information include:

Cousin Connect
( http://www.cousinconnect.com/p/a/0/s/SWYERS )

Decendents of Andrew J. Swyers
( http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/6854/family/swyers.html )

Ancestors of Raymond Scott Woolson - ( atmospherium@juno.com )
( http://www.geocities.com/guitarnoise65/Ancestors.html )


If you are interested in starting your own family tree, you can try
the following site:

Ancestry.com
( http://www.ancestry.com )

Please be aware that this is a pay site (with 14-day free trial) that
has some Swyers information.  I have personally used this site many
times while researching my family and recommend that you at least try
the 14-day free trial.  I looked up the Sywers surname and they have
many entires in all of the following categories:

1880 United States Federal Census   
1900 United States Federal Census
1910 United States Federal Census  
1920 United States Federal Census  
1930 United States Federal Census  	
Social Security Death Index       
Obituary Collection 
California Birth Index, 1905-1995    
Ohio Deaths, 1958-2000       
England and Wales, Civil Registration Index: 1837-1983 
World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918       
Civil War Service Records 
Civil War Pension Index      
American Civil War Soldiers 
Ohio Military Men, 1917-18 
New York Passenger Lists, 1851-1891  
Boston Passenger Lists, 1891-1943       
Baltimore Passenger Lists, 1892-1948       
Canadian Immigrant Records, Part One        
Miscellaneous Atlantic Ports Passenger Lists, 1893-1945        
Athens Messenger (Athens, Ohio)        
Atlanta Constitution, The        
Chillicothe Constitution Tribune, The (Chillicothe, Missouri)        
Waterloo Daily Courier (Waterloo, Iowa) 
Washington Post, The (Washington, D.C.), 1920, 1922-24
Message Boards  

Please let me know if you have any other questions!

Nenna-GA
Google Researcher

Google Search Term:

Swyer Surname Origin
Swyer Surname Meaning

Thank you very much for the rating.  If you need help researching your
family tree, please let me know.  I would love to help!

Nenna-GA