Melcher
A surname most likely linked to the given name Melchior, ultimately associated with one of the biblical Magi.
The #7,018 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 64,699 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Melcher is generally understood as a shortened German form of the personal name Melchior. That name was traditionally connected with one of the biblical Three Kings and was often explained in older scholarship as meaning something like “king of light,” though the exact etymology of Melchior itself is not fully secure. In surname use, Melcher would therefore have begun as a patronymic or diminutive-from-given-name surname.
History
The name appears in German-speaking areas in forms such as Melcher and the related patronymic Melchers. Older onomastic works also link it with Melchior and note related forms used in compounds and variants. In modern use it is found chiefly in German and German-American contexts.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because it comes from a saintly or biblical given name, Melcher belongs to the large family of surnames that started as first names rather than occupations or nicknames.
From the historical record
“MelcliiorlL hebr. „König des Lichtes^, einer der h. drei Könige (s. Caspar). FN. Melchior; Melcher, Gen. Melchers, Zss. Schneemelcher. Melier III. Latin is. für Besser. Mellies s. Ämilius. Melzer s. Mälzer.”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen