Hamer
Usually an English habitational surname, referring to someone from Hamer in Lancashire; in some cases it may also reflect an old Germanic personal name.
The #5,158 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 45,518 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The common English explanation is that Hamer is a habitational surname from Hamer, a place in the parish of Rochdale, Lancashire. In that setting, the surname simply meant someone who came from that locality. Some older writers also suggested a separate Old Germanic personal-name source, so the surname may have more than one root in different families.
History
Bardsley specifically links Hamer to the Lancashire place-name and notes that the name spread through the surrounding district. Later surname dictionaries repeat the same local origin, while also mentioning a possible continental Germanic personal-name connection. As with many short surnames, different families may not share a single origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because the surname can arise both from a place-name and from older Germanic naming forms, not every Hamer family necessarily has the same ancestry.
From the historical record
“in 1574. B.L.G. HAMER. An O. Germ, personal name of the A'^III. cent, whence probably also Hammer. HAiMES. See Ames. HALIERTOjST. Descended from Richard de Hamerton. who was living in 1170, at Hamerton, co. York. In the reign of Edw. III. the family acquired Hellifield in the same county, where they still reside. Shir-”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom