Bywater (surname)

Bywater is an uncommon English surname of Old English origin and can most frequently be found in the English region of Yorkshire. It is a topographical surname given to those who were situated near a body of water.

Etymology
Bywater is an uncommon surname of Old English origin. It is a topographical surname given to those who were situated near a body of water. The name derives from the merger of the Old English words bi (Middle English: by) and waeter (Middle English: water) to form biwaeter.

Topographical surnames are among the earliest created, because natural and artificial features in the landscape provided easily identifiable and distinguishing names among small communities in medieval England.

History
The surname was first recorded by Thomas Bithewater, a witness to a wedding which dates to 1219, in the Yorkshire Assize Rolls.

It was first recorded in Middle English at the marriage of John Bywater and Eleonar Copgood at St Martin-in-the-Fields on 19 September 1637.

People

 * Hector Charles Bywater, English naval expert, author and WWI spy
 * Hetti Bywater, British actress
 * Ingram Bywater, English classical scholar
 * Jim Bywater, British actor
 * Michael Bywater, English writer
 * Richard Arthur Samuel Bywater, recipient of the George Cross
 * Ron Bywater, Australian rules footballer
 * Stephen Bywater, English footballer
 * Terry Bywater, British Paralympic athlete in wheelchair basketball