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Origin / History of the Waters Name

Recorded in many spellings including Water, Wharter, Wauter, the diminutives Wattie, Watha, Wathey, patronymics Waters, Watheys, Watters, and the residential Atwater and Attwater, this is an Anglo-Scottish surname of great antiquity.  It has two possible origins. The first and perhaps surprisingly most likely origin, has nothing whatsoever to do with 'water.  It is a form of the male given name "Wauter", the medieval pronunciation of Walter, itself from the pre 7th century Old German name "Waldhar", meaning army-rule.  This name was introduced into England by the Norman-French in 1066, and appears in the famous Domesday Book of 1086 as Walteri, whilst Waterus de Cantelupo was noted in the Danelaw for the county of Lincolnshire, in 1135.  The second possible origin is however residential and as Attwater describes somebody who lived by 'water'.  This may have been topographical as in the various villages called Water in the counties of Devon, Dorset, Hertfordshire, Lancashire, and others, or it may have described perhaps a place used for drinking water.

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