Downer Family History
Downer Name Meaning
English (Isle of Wight Hampshire and Sussex): topographic name for someone who lived on a hill or down from Middle English douner a derivative of Middle English doun (Old English dūn) ‘hill’ + -er. It is synonymous with atte Doune (see Down ) and is a type of formation especially common in Sussex Surrey and Hampshire. English: in the north-West Midlands perhaps a variant of Downward with shortening of the final syllable to -er a habitational name probably from Downwood (Herefordshire) and perhaps also Dunwood (Staffordshire) with -wood re-etymologized as -ward and occasionally shortened to -ard. See also Downard . Irish (Tipperary): variant of Dooner .
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022