Spiller
A surname that most likely began as a nickname or occupational name for a player, performer, or gamer.
The #6,304 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 56,985 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is closely tied to the Germanic word for "to play" and its agent noun meaning "player" or "performer." In the older surname books, Spiller is explained as the equivalent of words like German Spieler, Dutch speler, and Scandinavian spiller, all meaning a player, game-player, or entertainer. Some writers also treated it as a variant of Speller, and a few suggested a link with a maker of laths or spindles, but the "player/performer" explanation is the strongest in the historical material.
History
The surname appears in English records as a relatively uncommon name and is also found in Germanic-speaking areas with the same basic sense. Because it could describe an entertainer, gambester, or even someone associated with play, it may have arisen independently in more than one place. Later surname dictionaries often cross-reference it with Spillman and Speller, showing that the form was understood as part of a small family of similar names.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th- and early-20th-century surname scholars often grouped Spiller with words like German Spieler and Scandinavian spiller, all from the same "play" root.
From the historical record
“Spillman. SPILLER (Teut.) 1 Player, Performer [v. Spill, and -|- the agent, suff. -er] Cp. Dan.-Norw. spiller, 'gamester', 'player' ; Swed. spelare, 'gamester' ; Dut. i^e/er, 'player', 'gamester', 'fiddler', 'per- former' ; Fris. spylder, 'player' ; Ger. spieler, 'player,' 'actor', 'performer', 'gambler' (M.H.Ger.…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)