Filmore

Variations – Filmur, Fullmer, Fulmer
Racial Origin – English
Source – A locality

More anciently this family name had the variations “Fylmere” and “Filmour,” but these spellings apparently have disappeared completely in recent generations.

A quite plausible argument that his name is of Celtic origin and that it was developed form the words “Filea,” meaning a bard, and “mor,” meaning great, has been advanced from time to time, the argument that some ancient ancestor of the Filmores was a “famous bard.”

But the theory does not stand up in the light of research which shows first, no evidence of Celtic origin, and second, that there were so many “famous” bards among the Celts of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland that it would have meant little for a man to refer to his ancestry in such vague terms.

But in the speech of the Saxons, “Fille” meant fertility as applied to the land and Mere” meant either a lake or a moist section of ground, it is easy to see, therefore, that the combination of these two words might easily have been applied by the Saxons to many spots in England as local names, and indeed there are records to be found of several places so named. Quite naturally the surname arose as indicating residence at or near such a spot.

Fulmer and Fullmer are sometimes variations of Filmore, but also have another source.