Lander
An English surname that can be occupational in Cornwall and Devon, and may also in some cases come from place-name or older personal-name roots.
The #6,535 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 59,534 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The strongest historical evidence in the excerpts points to a Cornish and Devon occupational surname: a Lander was the man stationed at the mouth of a mine shaft to receive the ore bucket. Other 19th-century surname dictionaries also connect Lander with earlier forms such as Launder and with place-name or personal-name possibilities, including French locative forms and Old English personal names like Landweard. In practice, the surname may have more than one origin depending on the family line.
History
Lower specifically notes the Cornish/Devon mining sense and adds that the well-known explorer family of Lander came from Cornwall. Bardsley’s examples show the surname in London records by the late 1500s and 1600s, suggesting the name had spread beyond its western-English heartland. Some lexicographers also treated Lander as related to Landor or Launder, so not every bearer necessarily shares the same origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The explorer brothers Richard and John Lander, famous for journeys in West Africa, were said by Lower to be natives of Cornwall.
From the historical record
“mandy. LANDER. In Cornw.all and Devon the man who is stationed at the mouth of the shaft of a mine to receive the kibble or bucket. The Landers, well-known as African explorers, were natiA'es of Corn- wall. But see Landor. LANDLORD. This name is found in H.E., in the orthography now employed. LANDON. A township in…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom