Recorded in a number of spelling forms including Seaver, the patronymics Seavers and Seevers, and the continental Seviour, Sevier, Siveyor, Sivier, and Seeviour, this unusual and interesting name is Dutch, English, and French. It is or rather was occupational, and in medieval times denoted a manufacturer or merchant of wooden (and later metal), sieves. The derivation being from the Old English pre 7th Century word 'sifa', and the French 'sieve'. Introduced into England by the Norman Invaders of 1066, the surprising number of spellings of the surname in use today, indicates the early importance of the occupation. Examples of the surname recordings taken from surviving church registers of the diocese of Greater London include: Margrett Sevvyer, who married George Godfrey at the church of St Benets, Pauls Wharf, on February 2nd 1625, and Elizabeth Sevier, the daughter of Thomas Sevier, who was christened on November 16th 1673, at St. Botolph's without Aldgate. A coat of arms granted in The Netherlands, has the blazon of a gold field, charged with an oak tree proper, and in chief two gold knights spurs. The first recorded spelling of the family name is believed to be that of Edith Siviere. This was dated 1274, in the charters known as the Hundred Rolls of the county of Essex, during the reign of King Edward 1st of England, 1272 - 1307. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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