Sayers
An English surname that usually began as Sayer, from a maker or tester of alloys, though it can also come from an old personal name.
The #4,603 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 40,071 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Sayers is generally treated as a surname formed from Sayer, with the final -s sometimes marking descent or association. One common explanation connects Sayer to an occupational word for an assayer of metals, someone who tested the quality of silver or other alloys. Another old explanation traces it to an Anglo-Norman personal name, Saher or Sayer, so in some cases the surname may simply mean 'son of Sayer' or 'belonging to Sayer.'
History
The historical sources you provided point to both explanations: Bardsley and Lower note the personal-name origin, while Lower also records the assayer explanation. The form appears in medieval records as Sayer and Sayere, and later Sayers became a regular surname in England and, through migration, in North America, Ireland, and elsewhere. The surname is comparatively uncommon in the modern U.S., but it has long been established in Britain and Ireland.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The medieval personal name behind some Sayers surnames is linked by old writers with Norman families such as the de Quincy line and the Barons Say.
From the historical record
“t75a. Married— William Keetly and Elis. Sayers: St. Geo. Chap. Mayfair, p. a 15. Birmingham, i ; New York, x ; Boston (U.S.),!.*”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)