Summers
Usually a patronymic surname meaning “son of Summer,” from an old personal name for someone born in summer or associated with the season.
The #591 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 5,421 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname generally comes from the personal name Summer, which was used in medieval England as a given name or nickname. In surname form, the final -s works as a genitive marker, so Summers originally meant “Summer’s son” or “descendant of Summer.” The root is the Old English and Middle English word for the season summer.
History
Historical surname dictionaries record Summers alongside forms like Somers and note that it belongs to the same family of names as other season-based personal names such as Noel or Pentecost. The name is well established in England and later appears in Scotland, Ireland, and North America through ordinary migration and settlement. Some older authors also connect related spellings to local place-names, but the patronymic explanation is the clearest and most common.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley notes that surnames like Summers belong to a small group of family names formed from seasonal given names, not just place names or occupations.
From the historical record
“Sommaarlee as well as earlier Sumarlide. SUMMERS I Summer's (Son) : v, Summep. 2 for Sumneps, q.v. SUMMERSBY (Scand.) Bel. to Somersby (Lines) [prob.the same name as Somepby (q.v.), but with a genit. -5] SUMMERSCALE 1 (Scand.) Dweller at the SUMMERSCALES J Summer- HuT(s [O.N.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)