Mercer
An occupational surname for a merchant or cloth dealer, originally someone who sold fabrics and general goods.
The #1,016 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 8,967 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Mercer comes from Middle English mercer, borrowed from Old French mercier and ultimately from Late Latin mercerius, a trader or dealer. The deeper root is Latin merx, meaning merchandise or goods for sale. In medieval English, the word could refer more broadly to a general dealer, though it came especially to be associated with silk and cloth merchants.
History
The surname appears in medieval records with forms such as "le Mercer," showing that it began as a job-based byname. English surname writers noted that the occupation was once broader than the later sense of a silk merchant. The name remained common in Britain and later spread to North America and other English-speaking regions.
Origin
Regions
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Fun fact
Older surname books point out that Mercer once meant a general shopkeeper, not just a luxury cloth seller.
From the historical record
“3 = y. MERCER (A.-Fr.-Lat.) Storekeeper; Haber- dasher, Draper [M.E. mercer, Fr. mercieti L.Lat. mercerius, trader ; Lat. merx, mercis, merchandise}, Ketel le Mercer.— if M«i. Rolls. MEREDITH (Celt.) the O.Welsh Maredud{d {dd=th [ ? the Mod. VVel. marmddydd,', ' mortal day ' — marw, mortal ; dydd, day] ;”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)