Meyer is an originally German, Dutch and Jewish surname. With its numerous variants (Myer, Meyr, Meier, Meijer, Mayer, Maier, Mayr, Mair, Miers, etc.), it is a common German surname.^[1] Its original meaning in Middle High German is from mei(g)er, "manager (of a lord's country estate)", derived from Latin maior domus, i.e. "headman of a household" (cf. mayor), later on also meaning "tenant" or "(free) farmer". It is therefore a rough equivalent of the English Steward, which has also been turned into surnames such as Stuart.

Look up Meyer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

This appellation was also frequently used to form longer, more specific surnames such as Bergmair or Niedermeier. Some German Jews adopted Meyer or a variant thereof as a surname when they assimilated to German culture in the 18th century, as it is close to the Hebrew first name Me'ir (מֵאִיר), "shining, enlightened".^[2]

In 2014, the surname Meyer was most often found (by percentage of the population) in Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg and South Africa. The name ranked 6th in Germany and 8th in Switzerland.^[3]

• Meyer (disambiguation)
• Von Meyer, Myer, Meyr, Meier, Meijer, Meir, Mayer, Maier, Mayr, Mair
• Meyers, Myers
• Meyerson
• Meijer (surname)
• German family name etymology