Fisher
An occupational surname for someone who caught or sold fish.
The #112 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 1,438 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Fisher comes from the Old English word fiscere, meaning “fisherman” or “one who catches fish.” It is a straightforward occupational surname, formed from the trade itself rather than from a place name or personal characteristic. Middle English kept the same sense, and the spelling was later regularized as Fisher.
History
The surname is common in England and Scotland and also spread widely to Ireland, North America, and other English-speaking regions. Early records often render the name in Latin or French forms such as Piscator or Le Pecheur, which confirm the same occupation. It has long been one of the most familiar English occupational surnames.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Old records sometimes translated the surname into Latin or French rather than recording the English form directly, so Fisher can appear historically as Piscator or Le Pecheur.
From the historical record
“Ad Fispond, H.R. FISHER. This seems to be a suf- ficiently obvious derivation from the calling of a fisherman, especially since ' fisher ' occurs in our version of the New Testament in this sense; and Leland in his Itinerary usually descriljes the smaller sea-coast places as " fischar tounes." In Domesd. and other…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom