Slater
An occupational surname for a person who worked with slate, especially roofing slate.
The #1,075 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 9,475 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Slater is an occupational name from Middle English forms such as sclater(e), meaning a worker with slate. The word is linked to slate, ultimately from Old French and related forms meaning a splinter or thin flat piece. In older spelling, the surname also appears as Sclater, Slatter, and related forms.
History
The name is well attested in medieval England and appears in records in spellings such as Le Sclattere and Sclatiere. Later writers noted that Slater became common in England and also spread widely in the United States. Some sources treat Slatter and Slatyer as provincial or phonetic variants of the same occupational name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Nineteenth-century surname writers pointed out that some regional speech forms could turn Slater into spellings like Sclatter or Slatyer.
From the historical record
“SLATER SLATTE «}'• Sclatep. SLATTERY (Celt.) i Straight, Tall [Ir.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)