title: Bywater (surname)
text: # Bywater (surname)
  
  Bywater /ˈbaɪwɔːtər/ is an uncommon English surname of Old English origin and can most frequently be found in the English region of Yorkshire. It is a topographical surname given to those who were situated near a body of water.
  
  ## Etymology
  
  Bywater is an uncommon surname of Old English origin. It is a topographical surname given to those who were situated near a body of water. The name derives from the merger of the Old English words bi (Middle English: by) and waeter (Middle English: water) to form biwaeter.
  
  Topographical surnames are among the earliest created, because natural and artificial features in the landscape provided easily identifiable and distinguishing names among small communities in medieval England.
  
  ## History
  
  The surname was first recorded by Thomas Bithewater, a witness to a wedding which dates to 1219, in the Yorkshire Assize Rolls.
  
  It was first recorded in Middle English at the marriage of John Bywater and Eleonar Copgood at St Martin-in-the-Fields on 19 September 1637.
  
  ## People
  
  * Hector Charles Bywater, English naval expert, author and WWI spy
  * Hetti Bywater, British actress
  * Ingram Bywater, English classical scholar
  * Jim Bywater, British actor
  * Michael Bywater, English writer
  * Richard Arthur Samuel Bywater, recipient of the George Cross
  * Ron Bywater, Australian rules footballer
  * Stephen Bywater, English footballer
  * Terry Bywater, British Paralympic athlete in wheelchair basketball
  