Sanger
An occupational surname meaning "singer" or "minstrel," from Old English.
The #8,787 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 82,729 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Sanger comes from Old English sangere, meaning "singer" or "one who sings." It is an occupational name, originally applied to a singer, minstrel, or chorister. Related forms in the same word family include Sangster, from the feminine Old English sangestre, "female singer."
History
19th-century surname writers treated Sanger as a straightforward Anglo-Saxon occupational name, and it appears in records in England by the medieval period. The surname is less common than the related Songer and Sangster forms, but all belong to the same old word for singing. In modern usage it survives chiefly as a rare English surname and in families descended from English settlers.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Old English root produced both Sanger and Sangster; the latter originally reflected the feminine form of the word for singer.
From the historical record
“SANFORD for Sandfopd, q.v. SANGER (Eng.) Singer, Minstrel [O.E. sangere] SANGSTER, the fem. form of Sanger [O.E. sangestre] SAN KEY (Erig.) Bel. to Sankey (Lanes), 12th cent. Sonchi, I3th-I4th cent. Sonky, Sanki [doubtful : perh. the ' Sunk(en Island or Waterside,' f. M.E. sonk(en, sunk — O.E.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)