indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Type Surname (from location)
Usage English
Meaning & History
Means (i) "person from Leire", Leicestershire ("place on the river Leire", a river-name that may also be the ancestor of Leicestershire); or (ii) "person from Lear", any of several variously spelled places in northern France with a name based on Germanic lār "clearing". British artist and poet Edward Lear (1812-1888) was a bearer of this surname.