Sayer Name Origin, Meaning and Family History

Sayer Name Meaning: A derivative of the medieval personal name 'Saher' or 'Seir',loosley translates as 'victory-army'. Secondly an occupational name for a wood cutter 'Sayhare'/'Sawyer'. Thirdly occupational for assaying metals or tasting food ,from French 'essay' meaning 'trial' or 'test'. 'Assayer'.

The plural spelling iof the name is a patronymic form,meaning 'son of Sayer'. An example recording would be that of 'William Sayers',dated 1634.

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Surname Distribution

Census frequency by county

Name Concentrations Within England and Wales

Sayer Surname Statistics


Top Professions for the Sayer family

Profession Census Frequency
Scholar 362
Agricultural Labourer 108
Dress Maker 34
House Servant 32
House Keeper 29
Labourer 29
Servant 25
Tailor 23
General Servant 22
Laundress 21
Farm Labourer 21
Carpenter 19
House Maid 16
Carter 15
Shoe Maker 13
Wife Of Above 11
Farmer's Wife 10
Ag Lab 10
Farmer's Son 9
Sawyer 9
Gardener 9
Nurse 9
Milliner 8
Farm Servant 8
Shoe Binder 8

Sayer Surname Variants Ranking

Rank Surname Match Census Frequency
1 Sayer 100% 28,534
2 Syer 80% 3,390
3 Sawer 80% 3,359
4 Soyer 80% 216
5 Syre 40% 167
6 Seyer 80% 148
7 Sayor 80% 142

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The surname Sayer is the most popular version of all its varients

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