Somers
A surname that is usually either a shortened form of Somerset or a genitive form linked to the place-name Summer/Somer.
The #3,333 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 28,688 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is commonly explained as a locational surname, especially a shortened or genitive form of Somerset, the county name built from Old English elements meaning “summer dwellers” or “summer settlers.” Some 19th-century writers also treated Somers as a genitive form of an older personal name or place-name stem related to the word summer. In practice, the surname may reflect more than one related source, but the Somerset connection is the clearest historical explanation.
History
Early records show spellings such as Somer and Sommers/Sommers, and the name appears in medieval English documents. Nineteenth-century surname writers linked it to Somerset and to related local names like Somerby and Somerford, showing how place-based surnames often cluster around a shared root. The name later spread beyond England, including to North America.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The county name Somerset itself was once explained as meaning something like “summer settlers,” which is why Somers often gets grouped with surnames built from the same seasonal root.
From the historical record
“spelling in the 13th cent. SOMERS \ „ e„„,„n„» SOMMERS f ^- Summers. SOMERSET 1 (Eng.) Bel. to Somerset, 13th SOMERSETT J cent. So»!ew«te, A.-Sax. Swrnar- sdete, Sumor-sckte [O.E. sckte, genit. pi. sclkt(e)na, settlers: the first element is app. conn, with the Saxon royal summer- residence Siimertiin — O.E. sumer…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)