Lasher
Most likely an English surname connected with a lash, blow, or striking action, though the old sources are not fully certain.
The #7,571 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 70,345 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is probably from English lash, meaning a blow, strike, or whip-lash, and was likely first applied as a nickname to someone known for striking, lashing, or a sharp temper. Older surname writers also treated it as a possible local or topographic form in some cases, but the fighting-name explanation is the clearest clue in the excerpts provided. Because the historical evidence here is indirect, the exact origin may vary by family line.
History
The name appears in English records by the early 1600s, including a Richard Lasher in Surrey. Later American surname compilers grouped Lasher with other action-based or combative surnames, suggesting it was understood as a nickname-type name rather than a place-name in many cases. In North America it is established but not especially common.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century surname collector filed Lasher alongside names like Strike, Punch, and Thresher, showing how vividly some surnames were once interpreted by meaning.
From the historical record
“p.H. 1600. Richard Lasher, co. Surrey: Rfg; Univ. Oxf. vol, ii. pt. ii. p. 241. London, 3, i ; Philadelphia, i, o. Iiushington.— Local, ' of Lush-”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)