Jaeger
A German surname meaning “hunter,” from the same root as German Jäger.
The #2,887 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 24,827 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Jaeger is the German surname Jäger, meaning “hunter.” It comes from German jagen, “to hunt,” ultimately from Old High German jagon / jâgan, with the agent noun Jäger referring to someone who hunts. The surname is occupational in origin and may also have been used for a forester, gamekeeper, or hunting servant in older usage.
History
The name is common in German-speaking areas and appears in older sources under spellings such as Jager and Jaeger, with the umlaut often simplified in English-language records. It also spread into neighboring language communities through migration, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries. English and French surname writers occasionally treated it as an occupational name connected with hunting or, more loosely, with related rural work.
Origin
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Fun fact
In German, Jäger is still the everyday word for “hunter,” so the surname is transparently meaningful to native speakers.
From the historical record
“JAEGER"! (Ger.) Hunter ]JAM.(jex. jeger{e, JAGER ) O.H.Ger. •ya^^eW = Dut.}"a^er] JANSEN \ (Scand.) Jan's or Johan's Son JENSEN J = Johnson, q.v. in Diet. [Dan.- Norw. son, son] JOHANNESEN (Scand.) Johannes's Son 1 _ JOHANSEN (Scand.) Johan's Son J Johnson, q.v. in Diet. [Dan.-Norw.. jij«,”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)