This name is of English locational origin from a place thus called in Sussex recorded as Chemere in the Domesday Book of 1086 and as Kiemela in the Pipe Rolls of that century. The name derives from the Olde English pre 7th century "cy" meaning "cow" plus "mere", a pool or small lake (from which cows drank). The surname is first recorded at the beginning of the 17th century, (see below). John Keymer was a writer on economics who flourished circa 1615. In 1713 Samuel Keymer married a Sarah Boer in St. Mary Aldermary, and in 1793 Francis Keymer and Anne Gilman were married in St. George's church, Hanover Square, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Kemer of Kent. which was dated 1601, in the "Oxford University Register", during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good Queen Bess" 1558 - 1603. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

© Copyright: Name Origin Research 1980 - 2024