Mellor
Usually a locational surname from places called Mellor in Derbyshire and Lancashire, though some early sources also treated it as an occupational form of Miller.
The #8,971 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 84,657 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name most commonly points to places called Mellor, especially the chapelry in Glossop, Derbyshire, and the township near Blackburn, Lancashire. Older writers also proposed a connection with a mill-bank or with the word for miller, but the place-name explanation is the safest broad account. The place-name itself is probably based on an old word for a hill or ridge by a mill, though the exact formation is not entirely certain.
History
Medieval records show the surname appearing in northern England, especially in Lancashire and Yorkshire-type surname zones where local surnames were common. Later reference works treated Mellor mainly as a habitational name, while also noting that some bearers may descend from occupational forms related to millers. The surname remains concentrated in England and has also spread to other English-speaking countries.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century source explicitly says the Derbyshire Mellor place seems to have given its name to an ancient family.
From the historical record
“(Eng.) an assim. form of Melhuish, q.v. MELLOR (Eng.) i for Miller, q.v. 2 Bel. to Mellor = ? the Mill-Bank [M.E. melle, O.E. myln, a mill ; O.E. dra, a bank] Mellville 20”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)