Minor
A surname with mixed origins, most likely from the occupational word for a miner or from a Latinized/learned form of a personal name.
The #1,145 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 10,056 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Minor is not straightforwardly explained by the old surname dictionaries. One line of evidence treats it as a learned or Latinized spelling, while another suggests it is really a variant of Miner, the occupational name for someone who mined or excavated. In that sense, the name may ultimately come from Middle English forms linked to digging or mining, though some occurrences may simply reflect spelling variation or clerical Latinization.
History
Nineteenth-century surname writers were not fully agreed on this name: Lower treated Minor as perhaps a Latinized form but more likely a misspelling of Miner, while later writers continued to place it near Miner and related forms. The name appears in historical records in Britain and later in the United States, where spellings often shifted fluidly. Because of that, modern bearers may come from more than one origin path.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some old surname books grouped Minor with Miner, showing how a small spelling difference could hide an entirely different origin story.
From the historical record
“as the modern French Slinet. MINOR. Perhaps a latinizatlon ; but more likely a mis-spelling of ' Miner.' MINSHULL. A parish In Clieshire, and a to\niship in the same county. IMINSTER. The O. Eng. form of monas- terium, a monastery or great church, as York minster, Beverley minster, ■\^'^est- minster. MINTER.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom