CAREW
The surname Carew is an English, Welsh and Irish name that has been borne by families throughout the British Isles for many centuries.
Its earliest recorded forms stem from several linguistic roots. In Old English the word caru means “worry” or “anxiety”, and this meaning has been linked to the surname as a possible nickname for a person known for their anxious manner. In Welsh the place name Caeriw is a compound of caer meaning “fortress” and a part meaning “by the water”, giving the sense of a residence near a fort by a river. A separate Welsh explanation identifies the components caer (fort) and the Old English element w(e)i (holy or sacred), thereby suggesting a settlement near a sacred fortress. All three derivations are attested in historical records and are therefore accepted within scholarly sources.
Geographically, the name is strongly associated with the village of Carew in Pembrokeshire, South Western Wales, where the well‑known Carew Castle was built. In the Middle Ages members of the local gentry adopted the surname from this place, and the castle itself carried the family name. The locational origin is supported by the consistent appearance of the surname in Welsh parish registers and in the early Tudor period.
Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, the de Carru family migrated to England and subsequently received land grants in Ireland. These grants were given by Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, in recognition of the family's service. The Irish Carews are therefore traditionally identified as descendants of the Norman de Carru line, and the surname spread further into Ireland during the 12th and 13th centuries. By the early modern era, members of the Carew family had settled in England, Wales, and Ireland, before later emigrating to the United States, Canada and Australia as a result of the broader patterns of British emigration.
The name has produced an array of spelling variants that have appeared in parish registers and legal documents, including Carrew, Carroo, Caroe, Carou, Caru, Carue, Carewe, Carowy, Caroow, Carow and Caryw. Each variant reflects regional pronunciation and orthographic practices of the time. Surnames that share common Welsh or Norman roots, such as Cardew, Cerwi and Caerau, are occasionally grouped with Carew in onomastic studies because they are also derived from place names in Wales.
In contemporary Britain, Carew remains a less common surname, most frequently found in England and Wales, with notable, though smaller, concentrations in Ireland and in the diaspora communities of North America and Oceania.
Typical given names associated with the Carew surname
Male
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Robert
- Timothy
Female
- Akosua
- Carol
- Catherine
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Helen
- Julie
- Linda
- Lisa
- Margaret
- Mary
- Nicola
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
- Caeiro
- Caer
- Cair
- Caire
- Caires
- Cairo
- Cairus
- Car
- Care
- Careen
- Caren
- Carens
- Cares
- Carewe
- Carews
- Carey
- Carie
- Caro
- Caroe
- Caroo
- Caros
- Caroux
- Carow
- Caroway
- Carr
- Carre
- Carreau
- Carren
- Carres
- Carrew
- Carrey
- Carro
- Carrou
- Carrow
- Carroway
- Carru
- Carrus
- Carry
- Carue
- Carus
- Cary
- Caure
- Cawes
- Cayre
- Coare
- Core
- Corue
- Corues
- Coureau
- Craw
- Crew
- Cure
- Cureau
- Curoe
- Currew
- Currow
- Grew
- Kareus
- Karow
- Karrow
- Karue
- Kerow
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Carew in...
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Morse
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There are approximately 1,138 people named Carew in the UK. That makes it roughly the 6,679th most common surname in Britain. Around 17 in a million people in Britain are named Carew.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Carew
- Adrian Dodson also known as Adrian Carew - Boxer
- Ashley Carew - Football player
- Richard Carew - Scholar (1555 to 1620)
- Charles Carew - Politician (1853 to 1939)
- Gerald Carew, 5th Baron Carew - Baron (1860 to 1927)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.