Hyder
An English surname most likely from a medieval term for a tenant of a hide of land.
The #6,787 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 62,109 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The most direct explanation in older surname dictionaries links Hyder to the word for a tenant of a hide of land: medieval Latin hidarius, from hide, the old English land measure. In that sense, the name began as a status or occupation-like label for someone holding a certain amount of land rather than as a personal name. Some later writers also suggest it could sometimes overlap with or be treated like the surname Hide/Hyde, and a few references note possible confusion with Skinner.
History
The name is recorded in English surname dictionaries of the 19th century, where it is treated as a rare form connected with landholding terminology. It appears in later surname lists and census-style references, but it has never been a very common English surname. In some cases, especially in modern use, it may also reflect independent surnames from other traditions or spelling variation.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older sources specifically gloss it as the surname of a person who held a hide of land — an example of how medieval land terms became family names.
From the historical record
“H.R. HYDER. Under the feudal system, the tenant of a hide of laud (see Hyde) was called a hidarius — whence Hyder. See Hale's St. Paul's Domesda}-, p. xxv. Some- times it may be equivalent to Skinner. IIYKE. The same as Hick. HYLTON. See Hilton. HYNDMAN. See Hindraan.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom