Trader
An occupational surname for a trader or merchant, though some early writers thought it may sometimes be a spelling corruption.
The #9,236 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 87,587 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained as an occupational name from Middle English trader, meaning a trader or dealer. In older surname books, it is glossed simply as “the trader,” much like other names formed from a person’s job. Some 19th-century writers were cautious, however, and suggested that at least some examples may have arisen from confusion with other surnames or spellings.
History
The name is rare compared with more common occupational surnames such as Chapman, Mercer, or Carter. Bardsley noted examples in London and Boston, but also suspected some bearers might have received the name through later corruption or spelling variation. The form appears in English-speaking records rather than as a strongly established medieval hereditary surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname scholars compared it with other job-based names and even wondered whether some instances were really altered forms of a different surname altogether.
From the historical record
“be identical with Tracy. TRADER. 'John the Trader,' to dis- tinguish him from ' John the Farmer,' or the like. TRADES. Svnmmes derived from. The following is IMr. Clark's list :— "Barber, Brazier, Mason and Builder, Carrier, Carter, Carver and Gilder ; Dancer, Drover, Dresser and Dyer, Cartwright, Clothier, Caner…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom