German and Dutch: from Middle High German meier, a
status name for a steward, bailiff, or overseer, which later came to
be used also to denote a tenant farmer, which is normally the sense in
the many compound surnames formed with this term as a second element.
Originally it denoted a village headman (ultimately from Latin
maior ‘greater’, ‘superior’).Jewish (Ashkenazic): from
the Yiddish personal name Meyer (from Hebrew Meir
‘enlightener’, a derivative of Hebrew or ‘light’).Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Meidhir, from
meidhir ‘mirth’.Danish: variant spelling of
Meier 3.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
2,530,505
Historical Documents & Family Trees with Meyer
Click on a place to view Meyer immigration records
The information for this chart came from the U.S. Immigration Collection at Ancestry.com.
You can find out where the majority of the Meyer families were living before
they immigrated to the U.S and learn where to focus your search for foreign records.
Immigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure,
port of arrival, and destination.
Click on a circle in the chart to view Meyer immigration records
You can find out when most of the Meyer families immigrated
to the United States.
You can focus your search to immigration records dating from that era.
Immigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure,
port of arrival and destination.
Click on a circle in the chart to view Meyer birth and death records
An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your ancestors lived in harsh conditions.
A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in
your family.
The SSDI is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. You can find birthdates,
death dates, addresses and more.