Müller
A classic German surname meaning “miller,” originally given to people who worked at a grain mill.
The #1,293 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 11,344 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Müller is the standard German surname for a miller, from Middle High German müller and ultimately from the Latin molinarius, “one connected with a mill.” The root is tied to the everyday job of grinding grain, one of the most common medieval occupations to become a surname. English-language sources often render the name without the umlaut as Muller.
History
It is one of the most common surnames in German-speaking Europe, and many emigrants carried it abroad in the 19th and 20th centuries. In English records it often appears as Muller, Mueller, or occasionally Miller by translation or simplification. The name is so widespread that historical writers regularly cite it as a classic example of a common occupational surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because German ü is often written as ue, Mueller is a standard Anglicized spelling for Müller rather than a different name.
From the historical record
“MUELLER 1 (Ger.) Miller [M.H.Ger. miil- MULLER I ner, O.H^Ger. mulindri; Lat. molinarius] MUNTZ (Fris.) Monk [Fris. miints, a monk] MUNZER (Ger.) Minter, Coiner [f. Ger. munze, coin, money; Lat. moneta] NAUMANN (Ger.) a form of Neumann, q.v.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)