Sommers
A surname usually treated as a variant of Somers, ultimately linked to “summer” or to Somerset/Somerton in English usage.
The #3,063 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 26,375 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Most historical sources treat Sommers as a spelling or possessive-like variant of Somers, with the same basic origin as Summer. In English surname history, that can point either to a nickname or byname based on “summer,” or to a place-name source such as Somerset or Somerton. The place-name explanation goes back to Old English forms meaning the “summer people” or a summer settlement, though older writers sometimes gave slightly different analyses.
History
The name appears in English records in several spellings, especially Somers, Sommers, and Summers. Some early onomastic writers connected it with Somerset and Somerton, while others treated it simply as a variant of Summer/Somers. In modern English-speaking countries it survives chiefly as a less common spelling alongside the better-known Summers.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Old dictionaries often grouped Somers, Sommers, and Summers together, showing how fluid surname spelling could be in earlier English records.
From the historical record
“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, summer — now Somerton] Somerton”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)