Variations and Variants - The Vayro Ancestry

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Variations and Variants

Early Theory

VAYRO

Source © Copyright: Name Origin Research. http://www.surnamedb.com 1980 – 2011

This very unusual name is of early medieval English origin, and is a late example of the many intriguing variants of the more familiar surname Farrar. This is an “occupational” surname for a blacksmith or worker in iron, derived from the Middle English and Old French "ferreor, ferour", a derivative of "fer", or "ferrum". from the Latin for iron.

Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. The first recording of the surname from this source is that of Henry le Ferrur, in the Leicestershire Curia Rolls of 1196; other early examples include Willelmus Ferour and Thomas Farrour, both recorded in the 1379 Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire.

The modern surname has forms ranging from Farrar, Ferrer, Farra(h), Farrow and Faro to Pharrow, Pharoah, Varah, Var(e)y, Varrow, Vairow and Varo; All these variations could have developed from the dialectal interchange and interchange of phonetics of "F" and "V" and "Ph" is a common one in late medieval surnames.

Examples of the name from Yorkshire Church Registers include: the marriage of Agnes Varye and Rowland Revell in Rotherham, on June 3rd 1590; the marriage of Elizabeth Vayroye and Robert Braithwaite on November 3rd 1639, at Sedburgh; and the christening of Isabel, daughter of John Vayro, in Coverham, on June 4th 1776.

The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Veyrey, which was dated January 24th 1558, marriage to Elizabeth Preston (or Rawson), at Rotherham, Yorkshire, during the reign of Queen Mary, known as "Bloody Mary", 1553 - 1558.

Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

VAYRO, VARO, VARAH

Source © Copyright George Redmond, Yorkshire Surnames Bradford and District:-

Published 1990 GR Books ISBN 0950852 651

“Varey, Vara(h), Varo – Reaney (another expert on surnames) said of these surnames that they were ‘clearly a late development of Farrow’ and drew his examples from 18 th century Suffolk sources. Locally however the name first occurred c1640 at Adwalton in Birstall parish and it was spelt in a wide variety of ways. The origins and meaning are not clear, but there are similar surnames in the 16 th century in South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire”.

Redmonds went on to say “the substitution of initial V for F would be very unusual in the West Riding of Yorkshire, so these names may have a different origin to the one suggested by Reaney, possibly outside the county”

Examples he gave were 1566-75 Richard Varay / Vayray / Vayrie in Rotherham, 1640-77 William Varray / Varah / Varo in Adwalton, and 1674-76 Edward Varey / Varah in East Bierley.”

VAIRO

Source © Copyright: Historical Research Centre Incorporated 2000

The earliest references to the Italian surname Vairo date back to the sixteenth century, when the surname “La Vairo” was recorded in the region of Calabria in 1533.

Research shows the surname to be of nickname origin, deriving from a nickname that usually illustrated a personal attribute or physical characteristic of the initial bearer. In this instance, the surname derives from the southern Italian word “vairo”, in standard Italian “vaio”, or “blackish” which ultimately derives from the Latin “varius”.

Prior to the inception of a structured system of surnames, a nickname served as a convenient means of identification. It is therefore possible to imagine the initial bearer as someone with dark hair, or of a swarthy complexion, who was given the nickname “Vairo”, which he later adopted as his surname. The surname thus means “son or descendant of the one nicknamed vairo”.

In addition, the surname Vairo may be considered to be a cognate of other Italian surnames such as Nero, Del Nero, and Neri, which derive from the word “nero” or “black”. Records show that one Ser Giovanni di Neri held the office of notary in Florence in 1390.

VARROW, VARAH, VAREY, VARY, VAIRO

Source © Copyright:

P H Reaney and R M Wilson, Dictionary of English Surnames

Oxford University Press 1995 ISBN 0 19 863146 4

Freemans Rolls York example, John Vary 1663

Horringer Parish Register examples,

Humphrey and Frederick sons of Charles and Mary Varow baptised 1754. Humphrey and Frederick Varow infants buried 1775.

Charles Varo 1760, Mary Varo 1843, Mary Varer buried 1795

Mary Varer married 1819, Lucy Varer married 1837.

This is clearly a late development of Farrow, due to the unentymological substitution of initial V for F in Farrar

FARRAR, FARRER, FARRAH, FARREY, FARROW, FARO, PHAROAH, PHARRO

Source © Copyright: P H Reaney and R M Wilson, Dictionary of English Surnames, Oxford University Press 1995 ISBN 0 19 863146 4

Yorkshire Poll Tax examples, Hugo Farrour 1379, James Farro 1525

Freemans Rolls Yorkshire examples, Roger Farrer 1613, William Farrar 1613,

York Corpus Christie Register examples

Magister Doctor Pharor, identical with Domestic Will Farar 1517-1518, William Farrowe 1528,

Rothwell Parish Register examples, Alys Farray 1559, Tristram Farrey, Farrer, Farrah,1632, 1641 1679,

Hearth Tax Suffolk example, John Farry 1674, Wiliam Pharrow, Pharoe 1674

Bardsley examples, Elizabeth Pharao 1702, Giles Pharoah 1760

All these names are Variations of FERRER. The unstressed -er, was slurred in pronunciation, and variously spelled as -ey, -ah, -a giving Farrey, Farrah, Farra . this was regarded as an incorrect dialectal pronunciation and the name was respelled Farrow on the analogy of Barrow.

At Hoxne in Suffolk in 1835 Dinah Farrer signed the Marriage Register Farrow The initial Ph- for F- is common and Pharrow, Pharoe were associated with the biblical Pharoah, which, however may occasionally be a pageant name or nickname.

Rogero Pharaone c1158 mentioned by F M Stenton in “The First Century of English Feudalism”.

FERRER, FERRAR, FARRER

Source © Copyright: P H Reaney and R M Wilson,

Dictionary of English Surnames Oxford University Press 1995 ISBN 0 19 863146 4

Curia Regis Rolls Henry le Ferrur 1196,

Calendar of Letter Books City of London Picot le Ferur 1200,

Yorkshire Poll Tax examples Hugo Thomas Farrour 1397

Old French example, Ferreor, Ferour (Worker in Iron, smith) c1400

Use as verbs Farrar, and Fairer

VARO, VARRO, VARROL

Source © Copyright: http://www.houseofnames.com/varo-coat-of-arms

This particular website gave spelling variations of surnames such as Varo, Varro, Varol and Baro, which were found in the province of Burgos, an area of the Kingdom of Bastile, which was very influential in the Middle Ages.

The website suggested that the origin of the surname Varo is Spanish and that the family had a coat of arms. It contained a shield devided “per fess”, the top half silver with blue “fleur de lis”, and the bottom half gold with two black wolves “passant”, with the top one facing “dexter” and the bottom one facing “sinister”.

Some of the first settlers of this family name in the USA and its variants were: Juan Baro who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1803; Bartolome Baro who came to New Orleans in 1830; Fernando Baro Monis who settled in Puerto Rico in 1879; and Carlo Baro who arrived in Illinois in 1897. They give no similar examples for Varo.

VEARER, VARO, VARA, VARRO, VARIA, VARINO

Source © Copyright: Monica Rose (fellow Vayro Researcher)

http://www.ancestry.com/facts/Vearer-family-history-uk.ashx (1891C Distribution)

Monica Rose (nee Vearer) suggests that the surname Vearer is certainly of Italian origin, being one of a group of names found in regional or dialect forms which are derived from Varo, Vara, Varro, Varia, and Varino, and the Latin word Varus meaning lame or crooked legged, or Varios meaning freckled or pockmarked, and scarred by smallpox.

There was a Spanish family of Vara accepted into the knightly order of Santiago in 1641, and I understand that a Varano family were numbered among the nobility in Ferrara, namely Fabrizio Varano as Bishop of Camerino in 1482 and Alfonso Varano, a poet who died 1738.

VAIRO

Source © Copyright: “Imbiancheria del Vajro” Museum, Chieri, Northern Italy

On searching through the Internet for Vayro Websites I found "Imbiancheria del Vajro" and sent off an Email and a letter to the Curator of a Museum in the town of Chieri in North East Italy. Remembering that there is no Y in the Italian alphabet, these are some of the details extracted from a translation of the reply from Armando Brunetti, President of the Museum.

Vairo (also in the form Vario) is the name of one of the areas around the town of Chieri, is referred to in old documents and still in use today. Vairo is also a family surname, as shown in the various old records. In 1276 it appears that several members of the Vairo family lived in the village of San Martino des Stellone (now known as Villastellone) and founded by the Chierisi family.

Other Vairos lived in the Albussano district of Chieri. These were:-

Lacabus Varius catasto in 1253, Guillieirri Vayri transfers the value of his goods as £22 from the Catasto of San Martino in 1276 and Catasto Gialdo in 1289 (sold his house?),

Vayronus Vayrus in Albussano 1275, and Oddonus Vayrus in Albussano 1275

Historically Chieri was a walled city with entrances or gateways, ( not unlike York I suppose ) one of which was the Porto VAIRO, facing north towards Turin. The town is famous for its textiles and furs, and mule trains used to leave for Turin, loaded with furs and continue over the Alps to Lyon in France. The furs were made for magistrates and civic dignitaries.

The museum itself "Imbiancheria del Vairo" was opened a few years ago to preserve the history of the Textile Trade in Chieri. The word Imbiancheria may mean bleaching, whitening, curing, dying of textiles/furs in particular. There is also apparently a Heraldic Coat of Arms for Vairo/Varo showing the "Winter Coat of The Siberian Squirrel" (honestly) and Mary Gallo a research worker in the museum suggested that it was not unlike a tiled roof with U shaped tiles in Blue and Yellow.

VARRAY

Source © Copyright: Hazel Martell (fellow Vayro Researcher)

I was contacted by Hazel Martell (Varray Ancestors) following an enquiry I had made in the Dalesman Magazine in May 2003. Hazel was one of several new contacts made through this magazine and she informed me that in the Parish Registers for Birstall alone there were eleven different spellings of the surname.

The first mention was for a William Varray of Adwalton who married Isabel Brogden on July 4 th 1640. The other versions of the surname were Vairey, Vara, Varah, Varay, Varey, Varo, Varray, Varrey, Varry, Vary, and Verah, but notice no recordings for Vayro! There is a record of a Joshua Veary of Birstall marrying at Adel (north Leeds) in December 1701, and even earlier a Peter Varr whose two children were Christened at Tong in the Chapelry of Birstal parish.

VERO, VERRO VAIRO,

Source © Copyright: Bob Cumberbatch, Member of Guild of One Name Studies

There is an Italian surname called Vero; Vero in Italian means true or real, so it could be a nickname – probably etymologically linked to the word “veracity”; quite a few on the distribution map that can be found at http://gens.labo.net enter Vero or Vairo in the “cognome:” field near the top left of the page.

There is an Italian surname Verro meaning ‘boar’; the Verri (plural) surname is Calabrian also Verre, Verru meaning ‘boar’.In the above two examples and pronunciation, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to hear “Vayro” for either Vero or Verro. There is one Vayro here near Naples. There is also a cluster of Verro in Lazio just above the Campania region where the Vayro family is located. Also, the Vayo surname = Catalan.

VARI, VARO

Source © Copyright http://www.cognomiitaliani.org (No longer available, unable to trace original)

The approximate translation of Italian text reads as follows:-

The surname Vari is typical of the areas of Rome and Frosinone (in southern Lazio) of Roma Segni, Colleferro and Frascati (all places just to the south and east of Rome) in the Rome area, and Anagni in the area of Frosinone.

The name Varo has origins in The Veneto (an area near Venice) near to Villaverla, with an appreciable presence also in the Treviso area (also near Venice), and another branch at Torre del Greco near Naples. It must be derived from the name of the Varia Tribe or from its family Varus, of which we find an example in Livy's “Great History of Rome”, in particular a Publius Quintilius Varus was in charge of two legions in Gaul. We find traces of this name at Orsara in Puglia (the extreme south-east of Italy - a peninsula) in 1700 with the well-to-do Gaetano Vario who figures in trading transactions.

Vairo seems to have two roots, one in the Foggia area and one near Salerno (south east Italy), and probably another one in the Turin area. (extreme north-west Italy) In 1600 we find a Rolando Vairo at Azzano. The derivation is uncertain even if we assume that it derives from the name of a place, to say the least for the Turin root. Other examples might be at Vairetto and Vair. One important person was Leonardo Vairo, the Bishop of Pozzuoli (near Naples) from 1587-1603.

SOUTH AMERICAN VAYRO 1650-1654

Source © Copyright: http://www.familysearch.org International Genealogical Index (IGI)

1650 Francisca Vayro

Female Christening: 17 JAN 1650 San Francisco De Asis, Cailloma, Arequipa, Peru

1654 MARIA VAYRO

Female Marriage: 08 JUL 1654 Santiago, Sacaca, Potosi, Bolivia

1655 Maria Vayro Choque

Female Christening: 20 JUN 1655 San Andres, San Andres De Machaca, La Paz, Bolivia

SOUTH WEST EUROPE VAYRO 1811-1859

Examples from a family group in Avigliana,Torino Northern Italy from 1811-1859 Index 129-153 ( A total of 24 are recorded )

1811 Giacomo Vayro Male Birth: 1811

1818 Biaggio Vayro Male Birth: 1818

1832 Anna Maria Maddalena OR Marianna Vayro Female Death: 06 JAN 1832

1841 Felicita Vayro Female Birth: 21 MAY 1841

1848 Felice Domenico Vayro Male Birth: 13 MAR 1848

1850 Anna Domenica Vayro Female Birth: 04 JAN 1850

1854 Domenica Vayro Female Birth: 18 JUN 1854

1857 Clara Maria Vayro Female Birth: 27 DEC 1857

1859 Giuseppe Biaggio Vayro Male Birth: 06 OCT 1859

CAROLE JOY ANDERSON

A long distance cousin in New Zealand, Carole Joy Anderson found many variations for family records that would have been impossible to locate. Some of the examples are as follows:-

1748 Vauso, Andrew of Sutton Parish

1755 Vauro, William of Elvington, Dec Probate

1767 Vayio, Ann of Cloughton, Stansby Parish

1838 Vayne, Mary baptised Tanfield July, daughter of John and Margaret

1841C Vaio, William of Masham and sons William and Stephen

1861C Dayero or Vayero William, Esther, 5 children and Brother Stephen

(8 Green St Darlington)

1871C Vageo, William, wife Esther and 4 children (Yarm Lane Darlington)

1871C Vayre, Stephen and wife Bell (137 Brunton St Darlington)

1881C Vayds, William, wife Esther and daughter Esther

(5 Woodcock Square, Stanley cum Wrenthorpe, Wakefield)

1881C Vaynor, James (14) indoor farm servant

(Lupset, Alverthorpe Cum Thornes)

1901C Vayno, Rose domestic cook Nottingham

VAYRO IN NORTHERN ENGLAND

1881 Census

VAIRO FAMILIES IN ITALY

2000