Lehr
A German surname most often linked to the word for “empty” or “bare,” or sometimes treated as a short form of names built on similar roots.
The #5,328 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 47,230 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Lehr is a German surname. In many cases it is understood as coming from Middle High German er or a related dialect form meaning "empty," "bare," or "vacant," giving it a nickname or descriptive sense. Some older onomastic works also connect surnames of this type with shortened forms of longer German names, so the exact origin can vary by family line.
History
The name appears in German-speaking areas and later spread through migration, especially to North America. Older surname dictionaries often list Lehr alongside related German forms such as L ehr, Lehman, and Leib, showing that scholars treated it as part of a broader family of German names rather than as an isolated form. In the United States it is now an established but relatively uncommon surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname Lehr is short and easy to confuse with the German word Lehrer, meaning "teacher," but they are not the same name.
From the historical record
“Uxeman, Lhèon, Lher. F. de Lehmanu, Lehr, Léon. Levitte. Blanc (fiara.).”
— Dictionnaire des noms (French surnames)