Kremer
An occupational surname meaning a shopkeeper or small trader, especially one who sold goods in a market or from a cart.
The #4,554 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 39,664 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kremer is a Germanic occupational surname tied to the word for a retailer, peddler, or small-scale merchant. It is related to German and Dutch forms such as Kramer, Cremer, and Cramer, all pointing to someone who traded goods rather than made them. In some contexts the name was also used for a traveling merchant or market seller.
History
The surname appears widely in German-speaking and Dutch-speaking areas and was carried into English-speaking countries by immigration. Historical surname dictionaries often group Kremer with many spelling variants, showing how the same occupation was recorded differently by region and language. In Jewish naming, Kremer also occurs as a surname adopted in Central and Eastern Europe, often reflecting the same commercial occupation.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The closely related name Kramer is especially common in German; Kremer is one of several spelling forms that all point back to the same old trade.
From the historical record
“Kramer, Kramar, Kreamer, Kreemer, Kremer.— Occup. ; v. Creamer. London, 1,0^0,0,0; Philadelphia, 98. 9. 16, I, 9.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)