Recorded in a wide a range of spellings including Bather, Bater, Batho, Bathoe, Bathow, Bathowe, Batter, Batters, Betho, and Batho, this is a surname of Welsh and Olde English pre 7th century origins. It is a fused form of ap Atha or ab Atha, meaning the "son of Atha", and the early Welsh patronymic forms similar to the Gaelic and Celtic Mac or Mc. Atha as a personal name was very popular in in the border counties of Shropshire, Cheshire and Chirkland in the 14th century. The surname is known to be at least early 16th century (see below), and further early recordings include: Jevan ap John ap Gryffyd Balto in the register known as the Extend of Chirkland, and Humffrey Bathowe in the Transactions of the Shropshire Archaelogical Society in 1539. Early recordings from English church registers include: Frances Batters who married George Brooke at St Katherines by the Tower (of London) on September 9th 1635, John Bather, a christening witness at Wandsworth Parish church on July 29th 1711, and Mary Bater who married Charles Potter at St Olaves Southwark, on December 30th 1765.The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Bathowe. This was dated 1537, in the register of "Welsh Surnames in the Border Counties of Wales", during the reign of King Henry V111, known as "Good King Hal", 1509 - 1547. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was often known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.