This is a French Huguenot name which has recieved a more than usual amount of transposition. The name derives from the medieval occupational descriptive 'mimer' meaning 'a stage actor', and the name is well recorded in London from the early 18th Century. It would seem that the modern spelling has been brought about either by dialectual corruption or a deliberate attempt by a past name holder to distance himself from the 'French' origin. The name recordings include Marguenre Mymar (1721) whilst in 1814 Eleanor Manamar married John Duffe at St. James, Westminster on the 19th December. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Marie Anne Mimar, which was dated 1712, Christened at The Glasshouse Street French Church, during the reign of Queen Anne, 'The Last Stuart Monarch', 1702 - 1714. 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.

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