English
The surname 'Culver' is of English origin. It is derived from the metonymic occupational name for a keeper of doves, or a nickname for someone bearing some fancied resemblance to a dove, such as mildness of temper, from the Old English word 'culfre', meaning 'dove', (in itself from the Late Latin word 'columbulla', a diminutive of 'columba'). Public and Civil registry archive's confirm that the surname 'Culver' and or it's variant's, date as far back as the thirteenth century were a 'William Culvere', from the county of Herefordshire, England, is recorded on the Hundred Rolls in twelve hundred and seventy-three. Historical archive's have been unable to definitely determine the exact period of settlement in North America but It is believed that the forefather's of this surname were part of the exodus of migrants that followed the Treaty of Peace signed in Paris in 1763, when great Britain obtained ownership of the whole of North America east of the Missisipi River excepting New Orleans. The chief reasons causing working class people to emigrate were, poor crop yields, high unemployment, and the misconception that America was a land of golden opportunity. It is has been estimated that after 1769 some 20,000 persons a year migrated to the Americas from the British Isles. Today, 'Culver' is the 'One thousand five hundred and thirty-fourth' most common surname in North America.