Senior
A surname from a title for an elder or lord, later also used as a nickname for the older man in a family or household.
The #8,518 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 79,903 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Senior comes from Old French seignor/seigneur, meaning 'lord,' and ultimately from Latin senior, 'older' or 'elder.' In surname use, it could point to a feudal lord or be a nickname for the elder of two people with the same name, much like 'Senior' in modern English. Some English bearers may also descend from the French title-form rather than from the English word itself.
History
The name is recorded in medieval English sources, including a 14th-century Close Rolls example. Bardsley notes that Senior became a well-established Yorkshire surname, where it appears in poll-tax records as a form meaning 'the elder.' The name also has a French parallel, Seigneur, which explains some of its earliest and most natural derivations.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In medieval records, forms like 'the elder' and 'Senior' were often used almost interchangeably to distinguish one man from another in the same community.
From the historical record
“Close Rolls, A.D. 1385-6. SENIOR \ (A.-Fr.-Lat.) i Seignior, Lord (of SENIER J a Manor), Squire; Elder [M.E. O.Fr. seigno(u)r, seigneur (Fr. seigneur), lord ; Lat. senior, older, (hence) greater] Michael le Seigneur. — Close Rolls, William le Seignour. — Pari. Writs. 2 a nickname for a seignior's servant ; also a…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)