Mawer has sometimes been described as a British

occupational surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

related to another British surname "Mower". However, there is no reliable citation or clear origin for this. One argument against a speculated connection with the name "Mower" is that in the days when clerks (amanuenses) wrote what they heard from the illiterate public, they differentiated between Mawer and Mower, i.e. they were probably pronounced differently, even in areas where the same dialect was spoken. Another possibility worth researching is that "Mawer" is an Anglicised spelling of Mauer, a fairly common German surname, meaning "wall". If that were indeed the origin of "Mawer", it would explain both the differentiated pronunciation, and the Anglicised spelling. The surname Mawer may refer to: *

Allen Mawer Sir Allen Mawer, (8 May 1879 − 22 July 1942) was an English philologist. A notable researcher of Viking activity in the British Isles, Mawer is best known as the founder of the English Place-Name Society, and as Provost of University Col ...

(1879–1942), English philologist *

Barbara Mawer Elizabeth Barbara Mawer (née Entwistle, 6 March 1936 – 7 March 2006) was a British biochemist and medical researcher. She was regarded as a "highly influential figure in the calcium homoeostasis field". Early life and education Barbara En ...

(1936–2006), British scientist *

Catherine Mawer Catherine Mawer (1803 - 11 April 1877) was an architectural sculptor who worked alongside her husband Robert Mawer, then following his death in 1854 she ran the family stone yard as a master sculptor at Great George Street, Leeds, West Yorkshir ...

(1803–1877), British architectural sculptor *

Charles Mawer Charles Mawer (1839–1903) (floruit, fl. 1860–1881) was an architectural sculpture, architectural sculptor, based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. He was the son of sculptors Robert Mawer, Robert and Catherine Mawer and the cousin of Mawer ...

(1839–1903), British architectural sculptor * Gary Mawer (born 1969), Irish sprint canoer * June Knox-Mawer (1930–2006), British writer *

Philip Mawer Sir Philip John Courtney Mawer (born 30 July 1947) is a former Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards who was in the post from 2002 until 2008 when he became an independent advisor on Ministerial standards to Gordon Brown. He was previously Se ...

(born 1947), British civil servant *

Robert Mawer Robert Mawer (Nidderdale 1807 - Leeds 10 November 1854) was an architectural sculptor, based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. He specialised in the Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival and Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical styles. ...

(1807–1854), British architectural sculptor * Shaun Mawer (1959–2010), British football player *

Simon Mawer Simon Mawer ( ; 18 September 1948 – 12 February 2025) was a British author who lived in Italy. Early life and work Born in England and educated at Millfield School in Somerset and at Brasenose College, Oxford, Mawer took a degree in zoology a ...

(1948–2025), British author

See also