Sayer
Usually from an occupational name for an assayer or tester of metals, though it can also come from an old Anglo-Norman personal name.
The #9,573 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 90,941 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is most often explained from Middle English and Anglo-French words for an assayer or tester, ultimately tied to French and Latin terms for weighing or testing. In that sense, it referred to someone who examined metal, especially in an official or minting context. Some historical sources also treat it as a surname from an Anglo-Norman personal name, Saher or Saer, which was itself used as a given name in medieval England.
History
Medieval records show both spellings tied to real people, and the name appears early in English sources. Bardsley notes forms such as Siger, Saer, Sayer, and Seer for one family in the 13th century, showing how fluid medieval spelling could be. The surname also overlaps with a different Celtic occupational word for a carpenter or wright, but the English surname tradition most often favors the assayer/personal-name explanations.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century writer remarked that medieval spelling could make one person appear under several forms in the same record — including Siger, Saer, Sayer, and Seer.
From the historical record
“Lat. salix, a willow] SAYER (Celt.) Carpenter, Wright [Wel. saer= Corn. saer,sair= Ir. and Gael, saor} . . . marchauc a elwit Saer (. . . a cavalier-^knight— -called Saer).— Bruty Tywysogion, A.E). iioo. Saer Bude.— /?««</. Rolls. Cp. Maclntyre. ( A.-Fr.-Lat. ) Assayer ; Taster [f. , A.-Fr. assai, assay (Fr. essai…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)