This name is a good example of the various ways a nickname could be used. In the Olde English, "Baer" or "Bera" can describe a person who went about unarmed and defenseless or who lived in isolation and remained unapproachable to others. As a Lancashire placename it finds its roots in Bare(grove) near a Lancashire township. As a topographic name then it describes anyone dwelling in or near a pasture or grove. The Priory Church in Cartwell, Lancashire was much used by the Bares in the past. Jennett Bare and William Bare were christened there on the 29th June, 1570 and the 9th April 1577, respectively. One William Bare married Elizabeth Taylor in April 1607 in the above Church. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger Bare, which was dated 1274, The Hundred Rolls, Suffolk, during the reign of King Edward I, The Hammer of the Scots, 1272 - 1307. 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.