Devereux

Devereux is a Norman surname found frequently in Ireland, Wales, England and around the English-speaking world. The name may derive as a Norman French rendering of the Welsh name "Dyfrig" or "Dubricius". This name would have been familiar to the Norman and Breton elites via Saint Dubricius, an important 6th century clergyman who ordained Samson of Dol. The parish of St. Devereux (Archenfield) still bares this Norman version of the name.[1][2] In Ireland, the name is associated with Wexford, where the Cambro-Normans first invaded from Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1170. Devereux is more probably the Anglo-Norman form of D'Evreux / Devreux, meaning "d'Évreux" or "from Évreux", a town in Normandy, France. Anglo-Norman develops regularly a svarabakhti vowel /e/ between /v/ and /r/ such as in AN overi / F ouvrit "opened", AN livere / F livre "book", etc.[3] Dubricius is called Dubrice in French and Dyfrig would have given *Difry / *Dufry in French and *Difery / *Dufery in Anglo-Norman, and St. Devereux is probably a mistranslation after the surname Devereux. The French variant Devreux which unlike Devereux is found within Normandy and France themselves.[4]

The similar names Devereaux and Deveraux are alternate spellings of the surname resulting from the various ways of pronouncing it - the placename is pronounced "Ev-ruh" (French pronunciation: ​[evʁø]) and the surname may be pronounced Dever-o, Dever-oo, Dever-ooks, Dev-erah, Dev-rah, Dev-ruh, or Dev-rix (Wexford).