Currer

Currer is an English-language surname and, less commonly, a given name. It is generally treated as a variant spelling of the occupational surname Currier, which referred to a person who curries leather. Early records show a variety of spellings, and Currer appears alongside forms such as Currier, Curier, and Coulier. The name therefore likely originated in medieval England as an occupational or descriptive designation and later became established as a family name in its own right.

A well-known cultural association of the word is as a given-name element in English literature. Charlotte Brontë used Currer Bell as her pseudonym when publishing Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell in 1846, and the same pseudonymous trio published Jane Eyre and other works under those initials in the following year. The use of Currer in this literary context helped embed the spelling in popular memory, even though Currier remains the more common modern variant.

Today, Currer remains relatively rare as a surname and is infrequently used as a given name. It is primarily of historical interest for its association with the Brontë pseudonym and as a variant form within the broader family of analogous surnames derived from leather-currier practices. In genealogical contexts, Currer may be encountered alongside Currier and other related spellings, reflecting the fluid spelling conventions of earlier centuries.

See also: Currier (surname); Brontë family pseudonyms Currer Bell.