Songer
An occupational surname originally meaning “the singer” or “songster.”
The #9,624 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 91,480 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bardsley treats Songer as an occupational name for “the singer” or “songster,” and links it to Old English forms such as sangere and sangystre, meaning a singer. In this view, Songer is an English surname built from the verb root for singing, with the agent suffix giving the sense “one who sings.” The French excerpt mentioning songer is unrelated to the surname and appears to be an incidental use of the ordinary French verb.
History
The name is recorded by Bardsley as an American variant alongside Sanger and Sangster, showing how spellings shifted after migration and during later record-keeping. It is a relatively uncommon surname in the United States today, but it belongs to the broader family of English occupational surnames based on musical performance.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley explicitly groups Songer with several other singer-based surnames, showing how a single occupational idea could produce multiple spellings.
From the historical record
“Sanger, Bangstar, Banxter, Songster, Songer.— Occup. 'the singer' or songster. A.S. Mugrrt, fem. saugysln, Willanieita Cantatrii. B.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances