Hammer
A surname that can point either to the toolmaker or to an old Germanic personal name linked by early scholars to Thor’s hammer.
The #1,661 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 14,222 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In English, Hammer is most straightforwardly an occupational surname for someone who worked with a hammer, especially in metalworking. The name also appears in German and Scandinavian records, where 19th-century scholars sometimes connected it with an old Germanic personal name and, more speculatively, with Thor’s hammer in popular tradition. Because of that mix, the surname may be occupational in some families and patronymic or nickname-based in others.
History
The name is well established in Germanic-speaking areas and later appears in English records as both Hammer and Hamer. Older surname writers sometimes tried to link it to pagan myth, but they also admitted the explanation was uncertain. In English-speaking countries it has continued as a relatively uncommon but recognizable surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some 19th-century etymologists thought Hammer might preserve a faint trace of Thor worship, though they treated that idea cautiously.
From the historical record
“HAMMANT. See Hammond. HAMMER. According to Grimm and Forstemann, Hammer or Hamer is " a name u under which traces of Thor are still to be found in the popular speech of German}'^, and it is derived, no doubt, from the celebrated liammer or mallet which he wielded." Ferguson. This is rather indi- rect and…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom