This interesting name is of medieval German origin, and is one of the variant regional forms of the "status" name Bauer. The derivation is from the Middle High German "(ge)bur", a development of the Old High German "giburo", a word denoting the occupier of a "bur", a small dwelling or building. When used as a surname, the word had two possible interpretations, that of a status name for a peasant, or that of a nickname meaning "neighbour, fellow citizen". The early forms of the surname included Bur(r), Burre, Buhr, Buer, and Buehr, and among the recordings of the name in Germany are those of the marriage of Hans Buer and Maria Helmlingen in Ellwangen, Wuertt, on September 22nd 1609, and of the christening of Balthasar Buer at Alberslow, Westphalia, on August 5th 1666. The name appears in England in the 18th Century one Charles Buer married Mary Wood at St. James's, Westminster, London on November 29th 1785. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Margaretha Bur (christening), which was dated February 13th 1556, Bendorf, Rheinland, Germany, during the reign of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, 1519 - 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.