This surname, with variant forms Guerre, Laguerre and Guerrier, is of Old French origin, and belongs to that sizeable group of early European surnames that were gradually created from the habitual use of nicknames. These nicknames were originally given with reference to a variety of personal characteristics, such as physical attributes of peculiarities, mental and moral characteristics, and to habits of dress and behaviour. The derivation, in this instance, is from the Old French "guerre", war, with the addition of he agent suffix "(i)er", used to denote a valiant warrior, or belligerent person. The surname was originally introduced into the English language after the 1066 Norman Invasion, see first known recording below. Later recordings taken from the earliest known church registers include Catherine Guerrier, daughter of Jean and Marguerite Guerrier, christened at Vitrey, Haute-Saone, France, on May 15th 1586, whilst in England the name appears in the French Huguenot church registers following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by King Louis X1V on October 22nd 1685. These recordings include the christening of Jean, son of Jean and Marie Guerrier, at the Threadneedle Street French Huguenot Church, on August 18th 1686, and Anne Leguerre at St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on August 18th 1720. The coat of arms has the blazon of a red field, charged with a single silver lure. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Herebertus la Guerre, which was dated 1179, the pipe rolls of the county of Dorset, England, during the reign of King Henry 11, known as 'The church builder' 1154 -1189. 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.
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