Kevern - Name

This interesting surname is of English locational origin from the parish of St. Keverne on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. The placename is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Sanctus Achebrannus and as St. Kaveran in the Feet of Fines (1236). The name is said to be the Irish "Aed Cobhran". The patron of this parish is a rather shadowy figure, whose name is first recorded as Achobran in the 10th Century, probably identical with the Irish saint Accobran. The surname is first found in the latter half of the 16th Century (see below). Other recordings of the surname from the church registers in Cornwall include; Briedget, daughter of Trestram Kevern, who was christened on January 18th 1661, in Paul; on May 2nd 1668, John Kevern married Joan Bacdcock, also in Paul; Anna, daughter of Hanibal and Francis Kevern, was christened on February 13th 1680 at st. Kevern; and on November 22nd 1681, Walter Kevern married Alice Jenkin, in the same place. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Oliver Kevren, witness at a christening, which was dated January 21st 1578, at Landewednack, Cornwall, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.