Kilmarnock - Ayre |
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The surname AYRE in Britain has independent origins in England and
Scotland. The AYRE name (of that spelling) is comparatively rare throughout the world. A reliable source of name statistics is the University College, London (UCL) whose findings are presented on the website of the National Trust. Their website is often overloaded by researchers, but the cached data is usually accessible at BritishSurnames.co.uk. The highest concentration of Ayre families (of that spelling) in Gt. Britain is in the north east of England, in neighbouring Sunderland, Houghton-le-Spring and Durham. Outwith Gt. Britain the geographical spread, in descending occurrences, is Northern Ireland, Australia, Canada, and the USA. There are no modern occurrences recorded in the Republic of Ireland. In England, - dismissing the Battle of Hastings origin nonsense - the evolution of the name is believed to be le Heyr - le Eyr - Eyre - Eyres, and the variations are Eyre(s) and Ayre(s). In Scotland, the variations are Air, Ayr and Ayre, seen in early records as 'de Are' and 'de Ayr', which supports the claim of an Ayrshire territorial origin. |
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Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland. Part of the West of Scotland |