Meyer (surname)

This article is about the surname and a list of people with the surname. For other uses, see Meyer.

Not to be confused with Meier.

Meyer

Origin
Region of origin	England, Germany, the Netherlands, Israel
Other names
Variant form(s)	(see below)

Meyer is a surname of English, Dutch, German, or Jewish origin or ancestry. Many branches of the Meyer(s) family trace their origins to ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. The name can be derived from the Old English name maire, meaning Mayor, or an officer in charge of legal matters. The name can also be derived from the German word "meiger", meaning Mayor; the name likely traces its origins to a wealthy landholder. There are various names that are connected by cognation in many instances (albeit not all), such as Myer, Meyr, Meier, Meijer, Mayer, Maier, Mayr, and Mair). Among German Jews, the European surname "Meyer" can sometimes be converged with the similar sounding, though etymologically unconnected, Hebrew name "Meir", which means "one who shines" in Hebrew.

Geographical distribution

As of 2014, 41.3% of all known bearers of the surname Meyer were residents of Germany (frequency 1:248), 26.7% of the United States (1:1,727), 11.6% of South Africa (1:592), 7.6% of France (1:1,113), 3.4% of Switzerland (1:310), 1.4% of Brazil (1:18,806) and 1.0% of Canada (1:4,620).

In Germany, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:248) in the following states:

• 1. Lower Saxony (1:76)
• 2. Bremen (1:87)
• 3. Hamburg (1:155)
• 4. Schleswig-Holstein (1:174)
• 5. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (1:194)
• 6. Saxony-Anhalt (1:216)

People

• Adolf Meyer (architect) (1881–1921), German architect
• Adolf Bernhard Meyer (1840–1911) German ornithologist
• Albert Gregory Meyer (1903–1965), Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago
• Albert Meyer (politician) (1870–1953), Swiss politician
• Alfred Meyer (1891–1945), German Nazi official
• Anita Meyer (born 1954), Dutch singer
• Anthony Meyer (1920–2004), British soldier, diplomat, and Conservative Party politician
• Antoine Meyer (1801-1857), Belgian mathematician
• Axel Meyer (born 1960), German evolutionary biologist
• Bernard F. Meyer (1898-1975), American Catholic missionary to China
• Bernard S. Meyer (1916–2005), New York judge
• Bernhard Meyer (1767–1836), German physician and naturalist
• Bertrand Meyer (born 1950), French computer scientist, designed the Eiffel programming language
• Bill Meyer (artist) (born 1942), Australian artist
• Birgit Meyer (born 1960), Dutch religious studies scholar
• Bob Meyer (born 1939), American baseball player
• Breckin Meyer (born 1974), U.S. actor and producer
• Bunny Meyer (born 1985), U.S. YouTube Vlogger
• Cameron Meyer (born 1988), Australian professional racing cyclist
• Christian Meyer (disambiguation)
• Christopher Meyer (born 1944), former British Ambassador to the U.S.
• Colleen Meyer (1939–2015), American politician and businesswoman
• Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825–1898), Swiss poet and writer
• Cord Meyer (1920- 2001), member of a wealthy New York family, served with the United States Marine Corps in World War II, a US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) official, and was married to Mary Pinchot Meyer.
• Dakota Meyer (born 1988), U.S. Medal of Honor recipient
• Daniel P. Meyer (born 1965), a federal whistleblowing advocate
• Debbie Meyer (born 1952), U.S. Olympic swimmer
• Dina Meyer (born 1968), U.S. actor
• Dirk Meyer, U.S. microprocessor designer
• Don Meyer (1944–2014), American basketball coach
• Drew Meyer (born 1981), American baseball player
• Dutch Meyer (1898–1982), American college sports coach
• Edgar Meyer (born 1960), U.S. double bassist
• Eduard Meyer (1855–1930), German historian
• Edward C. Meyer (born 1928) U.S. Army General, former Army Chief of Staff
• Eliza Meyer, (1992 - present) Australian Mayor & classic beauty
• Eric Meyer (disambiguation), various people
• Ernest Meyer, (1865-1919), French equestrian
• Ernst Heinrich Friedrich Meyer (1791–1858), German botanist and historian of botany
• Ernst Hermann Meyer (1905–1988), German composer, pianist, and musicologist
• Eugene Meyer (financier) (1875–1959), U.S. public official and newspaper publisher
• Florence Meyer (1911–1962), American portrait photographer
• Frank Meyer (political philosopher) (1909–1972), U.S. conservative political philosopher
• Franz Sales Meyer (1849–1927), German painter and writer, known for A Handbook of Ornament
• Fred Meyer (1927-2012), American politician
• Fred G. Meyer (1886–1978), U.S. retailer
• Frederick Brotherton Meyer (1847–1929), British Baptist preacher
• Fritz Meyer (1859–1926), Swiss founder of Roamer watch company
• George Meyer (born 1956) U.S. TV comedy writer
• George Meyer (soccer), American soccer coach
• George von Lengerke Meyer (1858–1918), U.S. Secretary of the Navy
• Greg Meyer (born 1955), American long-distance runner
• Gwendolyn Sontheim Meyer, Cargill heiress and equestrian
• Hajo Meyer (1924–2014), German-Dutch physicist and Jewish political activist
• Hannes Meyer (1889–1954), Swiss architect and director of the Bauhaus
• Hans Meyer (1858–1929), Austrian geographer and mountaineer
• Hans Horst Meyer (1853–1939), German physician and pharmacologist
• Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer (1800–1873), German Protestant pastor and theologian
• Henry Meyer (disambiguation)
• Heyneke Meyer (born 1967), South African rugby union coach
• Hubert Meyer (1913-2012), German Waffen-SS officer
• Ilan Meyer (born 1956), American psychiatric epidemiologist
• Jack Meyer (born 1905), Educator and Cricketer
• Jacob O. Meyer, Directing Elder of the Assemblies of Yahweh
• Jean Jacques Meyer (1804–1877), French locomotive designer
• Jessica Kate Meyer, American actress and rabbi
• Joachim Meyer, German fencer, wrote Fundamental Descriptions of the Art of Fencing (1570)
• Joe-Fio Neenyann Meyer (born 1918), Ghanaian diplomat
• Johan Meyer (died 1901), German-born pioneer of the Queensland Gold Coast
• Johan Meyer (born 1993), South African rugby union player
• Johannes Meyer (actor) (1884–1972), Danish film actor
• John Meyer (disambiguation)
• John C. Meyer (1919–1975), U.S. air force officer
• Joseph A. Meyer (c. 1895–1970), American college sports coach
• Joseph Meyer (publisher) (1796–1856), German industrialist and publisher
• Joseph Meyer (songwriter) (1894–1987), American songwriter
• Joyce Meyer (born 1943), U.S. Christian Charismatic speaker and writer
• Julius Lothar Meyer (1830–1895), German chemist
• Karl Meyer (activist), American pacifist, activist, Catholic worker and tax resister
• Karl E. Meyer, American journalist
• Karl Friedrich Meyer (1884-1974), Swiss-born American pathologist
• Kenneth J. Meyer, American politician
• Kerstin Meyer (1928–2020), Swedish mezzo-soprano
• Kirstine Meyer (1861–1941), Danish physicist
• Klaus Meyer (1937-2014) German football player
• Krzysztof Meyer (born 1943), Polish composer
• Kurt Meyer (Lucerne) (born 1944), Swiss politician
• Kurt Meyer (Panzermeyer) (1910–1961), German officer in the Waffen-SS
• Laurenz Meyer (born 1948), German politician
• Lena Meyer-Landrut (born 1991), German singer
• Léon Meyer (1868–1948), French politician
• Léone-Noëlle Meyer (born 1939), French businesswoman and philanthropist
• Lodewijk Meyer (1629-1681), Dutch physician, classical scholar, translator, lexicographer, and playwright
• Lucy Rider Meyer (1849-1922), American educator, physician, author, and social worker
• Lyndsay Meyer (born 1973), US-American ski mountaineer.
• Marany Meyer (born 1984), South African and New Zealand chess player.
• Mark Meyer (Wisconsin politician) (born 1963), U.S. politician
• Marc Eugene Meyer (1842–1925), U.S. businessman
• Marshall Meyer (1930–1993), U.S. rabbi and human rights activist
• Mary Eno Pinchot Meyer (1920-1964), an American painter. daughter of Amos Pinchot and Ruth Pickering Pinchot, former wife of Cord Meyer, and romantic partner of President John F. Kennedy. Her murder officially remains unsolved and some suspected CIA involvement.
• Mary Meyer (1917-1994), Dutch fencer
• Maud Meyer Sierra Leonean Nigerian singer
• Max Meyer (disambiguation), several people
• Michele Meyer, American politician
• Miriah Meyer, American computer scientist
• Morgan Meyer (born 1974), lawyer and state representative from Dallas County, Texas
• Nathan Meyer (born 1982), South African paralympian
• Nicholas Meyer (born 1945), U.S. film-maker
• Paul Meyer (philologist) (1840–1917), French philologist
• Paul-André Meyer (1934–2003), French mathematician
• Philipp Meyer (born 1974) American author
• Philipp Meyer (politician) (1892–1962) German politician
• Ray Meyer (1913–2006), U.S. basketball coach
• Rémo Meyer (born 1980), Swiss football (soccer) player
• Robert B. Meyer (born 1943), American physicist
• Roelf Meyer (born 1947), former South African politician
• Russ Meyer (1922–2004), U.S. filmmaker
• Sabine Meyer (born 1959), German clarinetist
• Sarah E. Meyer, American animation artist
• Schuyler M. Meyer (1885–1970), New York politician
• Scott Meyer, American author, comedian, and artist
• Selma Meyer, Dutch pacifist, feminist and resistance fighter of Jewish origin
• Stephen C. Meyer (born 1958), U.S. philosopher of science and Intelligent Design proponent
• Stephenie Meyer (born 1973), American author best known as creator of the Twilight series
• Sven Meyer (footballer) (born 1970), German footballer
• Sven Meyer (figure skater)
• Ted Meyer, rugby league footballer of the 1930s for New Zealand, and Northland
• Thérèse Meyer (born 1948), Swiss politician
• Urban Meyer (born 1964), American college football coach
• Viktor Meyer (1848–1897), German chemist
• Wilhelm Meyer (physician) (1824–1895), Danish physician, discovered adenoids and invented adenoidectomy
• William Meyer (disambiguation)
• Wolfgang Meyer (1954–2019), German clarinetist and professor of clarinet
• Yves Meyer (born 1939), French mathematician and scientist

See also

• Meyer (disambiguation)
• Von Meyer, Myer, Meyr, Meier, Meijer, Meir, Mayer, Maier, Mayr, Mair
• Meyers, Myers
• Meyerson
• Meijer (surname)
• German family name etymology