Conger
An English surname with a few possible origins, including a place-name connection and perhaps a nickname tied to the fish.
The #5,192 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 45,828 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Conger is not securely explained. Some 19th-century surname writers treated it as possibly local or habitational, while others grouped it with surnames based on animals or fish, suggesting an association with the conger eel. The word itself comes through English from Old French and ultimately from Latin-based fish vocabulary, but as a family name the exact source is not certain.
History
It appears in English records and surname lists in several forms and contexts, but the historical evidence in the excerpts does not pin down a single origin. In later surname indexes it is sometimes simply listed alongside other surnames without explanation, which suggests it was established enough to be noted but not straightforward enough to derive confidently. The name is now relatively uncommon in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because "conger" is also the name of a large eel, older surname compilations sometimes filed Conger among fish-based surnames.
From the historical record
“one. CONGERTON. Perhaps either Conger- ston, CO. Leicester, or Congleton, co. Chester. CONGREVE. An estate in co. Stafford,”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom