Seger
Usually a surname from an old Germanic personal name meaning “victory spear” or “victorious army.”
The #7,511 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 69,631 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is generally traced to an old Germanic personal name, either from elements meaning “sea” + “spear” or, more often in the later surname tradition, “victory” + “army.” In that second line, the first element is the same word found in names like Sigurd and Siegfried, while the second is a common word for “army” in early Germanic languages. In practice, the surname is best understood as coming from a medieval given name rather than from a place or occupation.
History
Nineteenth- and early-20th-century surname writers treated Seger as a spelling variant of Segar, Seager, and related forms. Bardsley cites medieval examples such as Henry fil. Sigar and John Seger, showing the name in England by the 13th and 14th centuries. The name also appears in continental Germanic forms such as German Seger and Sieger, which helped reinforce the personal-name explanation.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname belongs to a large family of related forms that old dictionaries group under one ancient personal name, which is why spellings can vary so widely.
From the historical record
“SEGAR 1 (Teut.) i the O.N. SAgeir, A.-Sax. SEGER J Sckgdr = Sea-Spear (i.e. Sea-War- rior) [O.N. s(k-r = O.E. s<k (O.Sax. O.H.Ger. sio), sea-|- OM.geirir = OX..gdr (O.Sax. O.H.Ger. g&), a spear] 2 the A.-Sax. Sigehere. O.Ger. Sigiheri, etc. = Victorious Army fO.E. sige = O.Sax. O.H.Ger. sigi = O.N. sig-r = Goth…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)