Powers

Variations – Porson
Racial Origin – Welsh
Source – A given name

No, the first bearers of this family name were not necessarily powerful men.  The name is a Welsh one, and has no connection with the English word “power.”

“Powyr” was a given name of rather widespread popularity among the Welsh of the Middle Ages, having been the name of a famous chieftain, a descendant of the “Leod,” who was the father of the leader “Mandebrog” of Welsh tradition, and the “Mandebratlns” of the Romans’ British history.

The ending of both forms, Powers and Porson, indicated English influence, and more than likely developed, for the most part, in England at first, where the natural procedure was to refer to the son by the name of his father with the suffix “son” added.  It is to be noted that in the case porson, where the pronunciation was not difficult, that the ending has been preserved.  But “Powyrson” is a little clumsy, and where “Powyr” was not elided to “Por,” all but the “s” of the “son” had been dropped from the ending of the family name at some period after it ceased to be truly descriptive and settled down into a sort of “tag” for the family with the original meaning overlooked.

In some instances, too, the name undoubtedly came into being in Wales at a later period when English customs and speech became more general there.