1,346 Global STEER Family Members

STEER Family History

Recorded in several forms as shown below, this surname is of pre 7th century Anglo-Saxon origins. It is or rather was, either occupational or a nickname. If the former it is a metonymic job-descriptive name for someone who was employed as a cattleman, one responsible for tending bullocks and young oxen. The derivation is from the Old English word 'steor', meaning a steer or bullock. The modern surname, found as Steer, Steere, Stear, Stearman, Sterman and the patronymic forms Steers and Stears, meaning 'son of Steer', may also be derived from a medieval nickname surname for someone thought to be truculent or aggressive like a young bullock.