FARMERY
Farmery is an English surname that is traditionally considered to be occupational in origin. The name derives from the Middle English word fermory, which denoted a person connected with a fermory or infirmary, usually attached to a monastery or religious house. The earliest recorded forms of the surname appear in the 12th and 13th centuries in charters that refer to individuals such as William de Enfermerie (c.1150) and Robert de la Fermeria (1203) who were linked to monastic infirmaries in England and the continent. Over time the spelling evolved, with later entries such as William del Fermere (1301) in the Yorkshire Pipe Rolls and Geoffrey ate Fermerie (1327) in the Pipe Rolls of Sussex. By the early 16th century a heraldic blazon was recorded for a variant spelling, Farmory, in Lincoln, and a John Farmery (deceased 1590) was noted as an eminent physician.
While the monastic infirmary derivation is the most widely attested explanation, other etymological interpretations also appear in the historical record. One theory links Farmery to the Old English elements fearn (fern) and erg (a building or workplace), suggesting a metonymic occupational surname for someone who worked on or owned a fern-based farm. Another view connects the name to the Old French term fermier, meaning a tax‑farmer or levy collector, and to the Middle English frymery, a term used for a creamery or dairy. Each of these possibilities reflects the diverse social roles that surnames in England could represent during the Middle Ages.
In the 14th‑century London Name Register (dated 1366) the name appears as Robert Firmarie, confirming the existence of the surname during the reign of King Edward III. The surname has remained relatively uncommon throughout its history and today is most frequently found in the North of England, particularly in Yorkshire, with additional scattered occurrences in Lincolnshire. Beyond Britain, small but notable populations of individuals bearing the name have migrated to the Commonwealth regions of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Contemporary census data indicate that the surname is still infrequently encountered, though it persists in limited pockets across these countries.
The recognised spelling variants of Farmery include Fermery, Farmar, Farmarey and Farmeree, among others. Such orthographic differences are typically attributable to regional dialects and the variable spell‑ing practices of medieval record‑keepers. In genealogical research it is therefore important to consider these alternate forms when tracing lineage or compiling family histories, as they may refer to the same nominal origin while reflecting the linguistic diversity of the English-speaking world.
Typical given names associated with the Farmery surname
Male
- Andrew
- Brian
- David
- Ian
- John
- Matthew
- Michael
- Neil
- Paul
- Peter
- Robert
- Stephen
Female
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Janet
- Joanne
- Julie
- Louise
- Margaret
- Mary
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Farmery in...
Braille
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Morse
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There are approximately 838 people named Farmery in the UK. That makes it roughly the 8,484th most common surname in Britain. Around 13 in a million people in Britain are named Farmery.
Famous people named Farmery
- Jack Farmery - Football player (1901 to 1)
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.