Corder
An occupational surname most likely meaning a maker or seller of cord, rope, or twine.
The #5,083 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 44,830 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained as an occupational name from Middle English cord and related forms meaning "cord" or "rope." The word may also reflect Old French forms such as cordier, "cord-maker," which fits the medieval surname pattern well. In older scholarship it has sometimes been linked with nearby names like Roper and Stringer, which point to the same broad trade area.
History
The name is found in medieval English records, and Bardsley notes it as a common Yorkshire surname in the 14th century. Later writers continued to treat it as a craft surname, though they sometimes differed on the exact linguistic route. It also appears in French onomastic contexts, where similar forms can be occupational names as well.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname writers liked to group Corder with other cord-making names such as Roper, Stringer, and Twyner.
From the historical record
“CORDER. Perhaps a maker of cord — analogous to Eoper. Le Corder. H.E. CORDEROY. Fr. Cwti?- de Boi, king- hearted ; metaphorically applied to a man of noble and generous disposition. Perhaps, howe\'er, the same as Cowdraj'. CORDINER. Fr. cordonnier. A shoe- maker. In the H.R. Le Cordewener, Le Cordewaner…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom