Sayer Family History
Sayer Name Meaning
English: common occupational name from Middle English sayer a phonetic variant of Sawyer which in Wales and neighboring English counties may have been reinforced by the synonymous Welsh saer ‘carpenter’ and everywhere by a possible borrowing into Middle English of Old French seieor saieur ‘sawyer’. English: rare occupational name perhaps denoting an assayer of metals or a servant who tasted his lord's food before serving from Middle English saiour ‘assayer tester’ (a shortened form of Old French assaiour ultimately from Late Latin exagium a derivative of exagmināre ‘to weigh’). English: rare occupational name for a professional reciter or minstrel from Middle English seier(e) ‘speaker’. English: rare occupational name perhaps from a Middle English borrowing of Old French saier ‘cloth merchant’. English (of Norman origin): from the Anglo-Norman French and Middle English personal name Saher Seier (Old French Seheri) from ancient Germanic Sigeheri Sighari composed of the elements sig ‘victory’ + hari heri ‘army’. French: occupational name from Old French soieur seieor saieur ‘wood cutter sawyer reaper or mower’ from an agent derivative of Old French seer ‘to cut’ (from Latin secare).7: Dutch: occupational name for a farmer from zaaier ‘sower’ (compare ).8: South German: variant of Saier ‘sower’ (compare ). This surname is also found in France (Alsace and Lorraine).
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
