Family name origins & meanings
- English : nickname from Middle English drink + water. In the Middle Ages weak ale was the universal beverage among the poorer classes, and so cheap as to be drunk like water, whereas water itself was only doubtfully potable. The surname was perhaps a joking nickname given to a pauper or miser allegedly unable or unwilling to afford beer, or may have been given in irony to an innkeeper or a noted tippler. Compare French Boileau, German Trinkwasser.