Boyer surname meaning
A French occupational surname from bouvier, “herdsman,” with Bowyer, Bayer, and habitational routes also possible.
Confidence: Disputed. More than one origin is plausible, or sources disagree. We show the conflict rather than pick a cute answer.
The short story
Boyer has several unrelated sources. In French it is a regional form of Bouvier, an occupational name for a herdsman. English Boyer can be a variant of Bowyer, a maker or user of bows, while German Bayer and the place-name Boye supply additional routes. Boye also occurs in Scandinavian records. The catalog uses occupation for the documented French and English trade readings, but disputed confidence is essential because a modern Boyer may instead descend from a German, Danish, or habitational form.
Also seen as: Bouvier, Bowyer, Bayer, Boye
- Ancestry, Dictionary of American Family Names entry 'Boyer' (Bouvier, Bowyer, Bayer, and Boye routes)
- Wikipedia 'Boyer (surname)' (French, English, German, and Scandinavian histories)
- Names2020_LastNames_RaceHispanic_Top1000.xlsx (2020 Census)