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 692
Agricultural Labourer 72
General Labourer 55
Farmer 41
Domestic Servant 36
Dress Maker 33
Living On Own Means 30
Laundress 27
Farm Labourer 24
General Servant 24
Labourer 24
General Servant Domestic 23
Living On Her Own Means 23
Coal Miner 18
Cotton Weaver 18
Butcher 16
Clerk 16
Grocer 15
Carpenter 15
Dressmaker 13
Grocer Assistant 13
Shoe Maker 13
House Keeper 13
Assistant 12
Blacksmith 11

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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