Baylor
Probably a variant of an occupational surname for a dancer or leaper, though some American bearers may come through German-looking variant spellings.
The #5,489 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 48,729 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The best-known explanation connects Baylor with Middle English forms like sailor or sailour in an older sense meaning a dancer or leaper, not someone who sails a ship. In that tradition, the name would have begun as a nickname or occupational label for a performer or lively dancer. The German-language note in later reference works also suggests that in some cases Baylor may reflect an Anglicized spelling of German surnames such as Beiler or similar forms.
History
In English records the name appears as a variant alongside Sailor, Sailer, and Ballar, which points to a scattered surname history rather than one single family line. In the United States, Baylor is best known through the Pennsylvanian and later national surname tradition, and some bearers may descend from immigrant families whose original German spelling was adapted to Baylor. The surname is relatively uncommon today but well established in American usage.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some old surname dictionaries gloss this family name with a meaning closer to “dancer” or “hopper” than to anything connected with ships.
From the historical record
“Sheffield, 6,0, i,o;Ne* Baylor, Ballar, Bailor. — Occup. 'the aailour,' a dancer, a hopper. •SailU, to leap (A.N.), hence aaHoHn, leapers, dancers' (HalliweU). 'There was many a limbealere,”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances