Waiters
A surname that likely began as a nickname or occupational byname connected with waiting or attendance, and in some cases may simply reflect the more common surname Waiter with an added -s.
The #1,809 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,552 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Waiters is probably an English surname built on the word wait, in the sense of attending, watching, or serving. It may have started as an occupational byname for someone who waited on others, or as a plural/possessive-type form of Waiter. In older English, "wait" could also carry the sense of keeping watch, so the name may originally have described a servant, watchman, or attendant rather than the modern restaurant role.
History
The provided excerpt does not give a surname entry for Waiters, so this explanation is based on the usual formation of English surnames. The name is relatively uncommon and may have arisen independently in more than one family, especially where it developed as a variant of Waiter. In U.S. records, surnames of this type are often the result of spelling variation over time rather than a single fixed origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is not necessarily connected to restaurant service; in older English, a "wait" could be a watcher, attendant, or guard.
From the historical record
“were to taste of death ; that the approach of the Saviour would be hastened by their assuming the position of waiters or expectants, and in particu- lar by their living like the angels in heaven. Tliey emaciated their bodies by fasting. They renounced all earthly connections. Such of them as were in the relation of…”
— The Scottish Nation; or, the surnames, families ... of the people of Scotland, vol. 1