Naylor
An occupational surname meaning “maker or seller of nails.”
The #2,169 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 18,438 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Naylor comes from Middle English nayl and Old English nægel, meaning “nail,” plus the agent suffix -er or -ere, “one who does a job.” In other words, it originally referred to a nail-maker, nail-smith, or nail-seller. Historical spellings include Nayler and Naylar.
History
The name appears early in medieval records, including forms like John le Naylere. It is especially well attested in northern England, where the occupation-based surname became very common in the modern form Naylor. Over time the spelling was regularized, though variants such as Nayler persisted.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley notes that in northern England the surname settled into the form Naylor much as Taylor did for the tailor trade.
From the historical record
“NAYLER \ M.E. nayl, O.E. n<egel,'a. nail + the NAYLOR J agent, sufif. -ere] John le Naylere. — Plac. de Quo Warr. 'Cloutier, a nayler, a nayle-sraith; a seller or maker of nayles.'— Cotgrave, Fr. Diet., A.D. i6ii. NEAD (Eng.) app. = Ead(e (q v.), with attrac- ted N- (as in Ned, a pet form of Edward);”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)