Reeder
An occupational surname for a thatcher or reed-worker, later sometimes treated as a spelling of Reader.
The #1,874 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 16,118 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Historical sources most often connect Reeder with Middle English "reeder" or "redere," a worker who used reeds in thatching. The form is tied to the same occupational world as "thatcher," with reeds used as roofing material. Some later surname dictionaries also treat it as a variant of Reader, but the occupational explanation is the clearest and best supported.
History
Bardsley and later writers cite medieval occupational usage for the name, including references to a "reeder" in guild records. In English surname history it belongs to the large class of craft-based names that became hereditary by the late medieval period. In some later settings the spelling appears to overlap with Reader, which can make the family history of individual lines harder to separate.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older occupational terminology, a reeder was associated with roofing rather than reading.
From the historical record
“and r^erf.— Chaucer, Ca«/. Tales, A 153. REEDER = Reader, q.v. REEDY = Ready, q.v. REEK, a Scot. dim. of Rtckard, Richard, q.v. REEKIE, a Scot, double dim. of Rickard, Richard, q.v. [E. dim. buff, -ie, -y] REEKS, Reek's (Son) : v. Reek. REEN (Celt;) Dweller at k Point of Land,”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)