The surname flower?

Question

My surname is flower and i was wondering where it came from i have found out from realtives that on my dad sides his dad family where romaina gyspys with the surname flower and on my dads mum side they were irish gyspys.

so i was just wondering if anyone knew that if flower was a gyspy name and where it came from

Answer 1

Surname: Flower

This most interesting surname has several possible origins. Firstly, it may have been a nickname from the Old French "flur", Middle English "flo(u)r", flower, which was a conventional term of endearment in medieval romantic poetry, and as early as the 14th Century it is regularly found as female given name. However, the name may also have been a metonymic occupational name for a miller or flour merchant, derived from the iddle English "flo(u)r", flour, which has the same origin as above, with the transferred sense "flower, pick of the meal". Finally, the surname may be an occupational name for an arrowsmith, from the Middle English "floer", a derivative of "flo", Olde English pre 7th Century "fla", arrow, an arrowsmith. The name is most popular in Wiltshire, Somerset and Gloucestershire (Bristol). The surname itself first appears in the early 13th Century (see below), while William Floere and John le Floer were mentioned in the Hundred Rolls of Devonshire in 1275; and Edmund Flour appears in the Feet of Fines of Essex in 1313. Thomas Flower, aged 32 yrs., was an early emigrant to the plantations of "Virginea", travelling aboard the "Abraham" in 1635. A Coat of Arms granted to a Flower family, descended from William Flower, High Sheriff of Rutland in 1387, depicts an ermine cinquefoil on an ermines shield. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Flur, which was dated 1203, in the "Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216.

And

Flower  

Last name origins & meanings:

English: nickname from Middle English flo(u)r ‘flower’, ‘blossom’ (Old French flur, from Latin flos, genitive floris). This was a conventional term of endearment in medieval romantic poetry, and as early as the 13th century it is also regularly found as a female personal name.

English: metonymic occupational name for a miller or flour merchant, or perhaps a nickname for a pasty-faced person, from Middle English flo(u)r ‘flour’. This is in origin the same word as in 1, with the transferred sense ‘flower, pick of the meal’. Although the two words are now felt to be accidental homophones, they were not distinguished in spelling before the 18th century.

English: occupational name for an arrowsmith, from an agent derivative of Middle English flō ‘arrow’ (Old English flā).

Welsh: Anglicized form of the Welsh personal name Llywarch, of unexplained origin.

Translation of French Lafleur.

Romany last names

http://sciway3.net/clark/freemoors/prese...

Answer 2

we need to chat honey--  flower is my great grandma's last name- and her mother's maiden name was Romany of which i am having difficulty to trace other than that it is gypsy. that is all on my dad's side of which also came from several places including Ireland...  i think we have more in common than you think... email me if you wanna chat and exchange family histories...

Answer 3

This is what www.ancestry.com has to say about the name.

Flower Name Meaning and History

English: nickname from Middle English flo(u)r ‘flower’, ‘blossom’ (Old French flur, from Latin flos, genitive floris). This was a conventional term of endearment in medieval romantic poetry, and as early as the 13th century it is also regularly found as a female personal name.

English: metonymic occupational name for a miller or flour merchant, or perhaps a nickname for a pasty-faced person, from Middle English flo(u)r ‘flour’. This is in origin the same word as in 1, with the transferred sense ‘flower, pick of the meal’. Although the two words are now felt to be accidental homophones, they were not distinguished in spelling before the 18th century.

English: occupational name for an arrowsmith, from an agent derivative of Middle English flo ‘arrow’ (Old English fla).

Welsh: Anglicized form of the Welsh personal name Llywarch, of unexplained origin.

Translation of French Lafleur.

hope this helps.