This rare and interesting name is of Medieval French (Norman) origin and is a dialectal variant of Vere, a locational name so called from Ver, a place in Normandy, and deriving from the Gaulic element "Ver(n)", alder. Also Virr may be a variant of the medieval given name "Ver" from the Latin "Verus", meaning true, which became fairly popular in honour of a 4th Century bishop of Vienne. During the Middle Ages, when it became more common for people to migrate from their birth place they would often adopt or be given the placename as a means of identification, thus resulting in the wide dispersal of the name and its variants. In the modern idiom, the variants include, Veare, Vere, Ver and Verre. One Thomas Alfred Virr the son of Joseph and Mary Virr was christened on March 2nd 1870 at St. Mary, Magdalene Woolwich, Kent. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alberic de Ver, which was dated 1086, The Domesday Book of Essex, during the reign of King William 1, "The Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. 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.