Recorded as Westoff, Westover, and Westofer, this is an English surname. It is medieval, but its origins are likely Anglo-Saxon or Old English, dating back to before the 7th century. It belongs to a group of surnames derived from place names, which are descriptive in nature. Derived either from the place name Westover or topographically from the term "West Off," it literally describes a hamlet or farm "in the west," meaning west of the main village. The famous Victorian etymologist Canon Charles Bardsley explained that "Westover is a tithe in the parish of Wherwell near Andover in Hampshire."
Presumably, Wherwell was the main center of the area at the time and possibly the seat of the Lord of the Manor. In areas under the influence of the Vikings, similar systems were applied. A "torp" described a remote farm or settlement, while a "bi" was as small as a single farm. Place names like this were originally given to either the landowner, if there was one, or, as seems to be the case here, former villagers and tenants who left the village and moved elsewhere. Judging by the first record shown below, they moved elsewhere early on.
Examples of surname records include - William Westofer, who married Alice Younger in London in 1572, and James Westofer, a student at Oxford University in 1602. The first known record is that of William Westovere in the Hundred Rolls of Somerset County in 1273.
Bardsley, Charles Wareing Endell. A dictionary of English and Welsh surnames, with special American instances. London: Henry Frowde, 1901.
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Meaning of Westover
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