Childers
A surname with several possible origins, most likely from an old place-name or an altered form of an occupational or descriptive byname.
The #1,150 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 10,100 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname has been explained in more than one way. Some writers connect it with a lost or altered place-name, while others think it may relate to an old term such as "childer-house," meaning an orphanage or children's house, which could have influenced the modern form. Another speculative suggestion links it with Guelders in the Low Countries, but that is less certain.
History
The name is recorded in English sources by the medieval period and later appears in London records. Modern surname scholars have offered different explanations for its origin, showing that the form is not straightforward. It is now established in England and especially familiar in the United States as well.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One early-20th-century writer suggested that Childers may be a reshaped form of the obsolete phrase "childer-house."
From the historical record
“CHAMPNEY, from Champagne. CHILDERS may perhaps come from Gueldres. CORNISH, CORNWALLIS, from Cornweales, Cornwall; acquired after the West Welsh were suffered to creep back over the Tamar, beyond which Athelstan had banned them. CULLEN, from Cologne. DANES, DENMAN, DENNIS, from Denmark. In deeds and Hundred Rolls…”
— Family Names and their Story