Danner
A surname most likely linked to “Dan,” meaning a Dane, though in some German contexts it may also be tied to place or personal-name forms beginning with Dann-.
The #3,328 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 28,625 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The strongest clue in the older surname literature is the German element Dan- or Danne-, which one source glosses as “the Dane,” making Danner a likely ethnic or regional surname for someone identified as Danish. In German naming, the suffix -er often marks origin or association, so the name may originally have meant “the Dane” or “man associated with Dan/Danne.” Some 19th-century writers also grouped Danner with other Dann- names without certainty, so not every instance of the surname necessarily has the same source.
History
The name appears in German-language surname lists and was already established enough by the 19th century to be noted in comparative studies of family names. In English-language records it is less common and may reflect immigration from German-speaking areas. The surname is found in the United States today, where it likely reflects multiple immigrant lines rather than a single origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 1902 surname study explicitly grouped Danner with German names built on DAN, glossed as “the Dane.”
From the historical record
“Daily and Daly, D aland, Dallinger, Dalor, Damis, Dammers, Damoreau, Damrell, Danahy, Dannehy, Dandley^ Danley, Dandridge, Danner, Dapmar, D'Arcy, Dardy, Darney (see Patch, ante, p. 48), Darr, Darrah, Darram, Darrell, Darrigon, Dar- ROAY, Dartady, Dasha, Datz, Daun, Dauphiney,”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)