Chancellor
An occupational surname for someone who worked as a chancellor or in a chancellor’s office, civil or ecclesiastical.
The #7,974 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 74,450 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname comes from the title chancellor, a high administrative or ecclesiastical officer. The word entered English through Anglo-Norman French and ultimately goes back to Latin cancellarius, originally an official connected with the chancel or barrier screen in a court or church. As a surname, it would have been given to someone who held that office, worked in such a household, or was associated with the chancellery.
History
Historical surname dictionaries treat Chancellor as an occupational name, and it appears alongside related forms such as Chandler and Cancellor in older records and indexes. In England it is much less common than some other office-based surnames, but it has been in use for centuries. Modern bearers may descend from independent origins in different regions, since official titles often produced surnames more than once.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The related medieval Latin office term cancellarius is the source not only of Chancellor but also of the modern title for a senior government minister in several countries.
From the historical record
“same as Chancey. CHANCELLOR. A name applied to various offices, civil and ecclesiastical. Richardson. CHANCEY. Scot, chancy, Fv. chan- ceux, fortunate, happy. Jamiesou. See however Chauncy. CHANDLER. Origmally a maker of candles, though now erroneously applied to a dealer in small wares. In the H.R. Le Chaundeler…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom