Byer
Usually a shortened form of Boyer, from an old name for a Bavarian or, in some cases, a wool buyer.
The #9,998 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 95,765 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained as a reduced form of Boyer, an old term for a Bavarian or German from Bavaria. In some English records, however, it may also reflect a trade name related to Middle English buyer/bo(u)yer, especially in forms like Geoffrey le Wolle-byer. Because the surname occurs in more than one historical setting, its exact origin can vary by family line.
History
19th-century surname writers linked Byer mainly with Boyer and treated it as an older ethnic name. The same sources also note occasional English occupational uses connected with wool buying, which may account for some separate lines of the name. Modern bearers in the United States may descend from either form, depending on ancestry.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older etymological works explicitly mention both Byer as a form of Boyer and a separate wool-trade surname like 'le Wolle-byer.'
From the historical record
“Sydney ; v. Sidney. Byer, Byera.— Bapt 'the son of Saier,' one of the many fonns of Sayer, q.v. The fiiller form was Sigher or Sif^iar. Saier I^kevate^ C R., 17 Rlc II.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances