Hamner
A surname usually connected with the Welsh place name Hanmer, with Hamner as a later spelling form.
The #9,068 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 85,667 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hamner is generally explained as a locational surname from Hanmer, a parish in Flintshire, Wales. The name likely began as a place-based byname for someone who came from that settlement, and the spelling Hamner reflects later variation in English records. Some 19th-century writers also treated Hamner as an Americanized form of Hanmer.
History
The surname appears in records as a variant of Hanmer, and one source notes that the Hamner spelling is found in England as early as the 16th century. Later bearers of the name carried it to North America, where the simplified spelling became established. Because surname spelling was often fluid, Hamner and Hanmer may overlap in family history.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century writer noted that Sir John Hamner was said to have taken the name from the place, showing how place names and family names could blur together in older records.
From the historical record
“' of Hanmer,' a parish in the dioc. of St. Asaph. The change from Hanmer to Hamner (an American form) is found as early as. the century in Engli ;iii. Hancko. bomr i”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances