Recorded as Amer, Amor, Amore, Aymor, Amori, Amorine, Amerine and Emorine, this is usually an Anglo-Scottish surname, but one that also appears in different forms in France and Spain. However spelt it has several possible origins, all quite different and distinct. The first is from the Olde English pre 7th century personal name "Aethelmaer", which in the Middle Ages became "Ailmar". This was composed of the elements "aethel", meaning noble, plus "-maer", famous. The second possible origin is Scottish and locational from some minor place called Ailmer. This would seem to be proven by the appearance in surviving rolls and charters of Scotland in the 13th century which record that Emmed de'Ailmer and Robert de Almere of the county of Selkirk, paid homage to the Interregnum Government of Scotland in the year 1296. A third possible origin is European and derives from the given name "Amor", from the Latin word to love. This personal name is recorded in England as Eymer in Cambridgeshire, in 1260 and as Aymar in the "Gascon Calendar" of 1298. Early examples of the surname recording taken from surviving church registers include the marriage of John Amore and Katherine Fisher on September 26th 1541, at Harrietsham in Kent, the marriage of Elizabeth Amer and Daniel Carr on January 29th 1655, at St. Stephen's, Coleman Street, London, whilst in the state of Kentucky, in the the newly independant United States, Jonathon Amerine married Temperance Harris at Madison, on June 24th 1818, and what is believed to be their daughter, Eliza Emerine, who married Mathew D Grinstead, on April 19th 1837. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop", often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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