Explore the Family Name Hayer

The meaning of Hayer

1. South German: from an agent derivative of Middle High German heien ‘to guard or protect’, hence an occupational name for a warden of woodland or crops. 2. Norwegian: habitational name from any of several farms named Heier, plural of Old Norse heithr ‘heath, moor; isolated area’. 3. English: variant of Heyer. 4. French: occupational name for a warden of woodland, from an agent derivative of Old French haye ‘hedge, enclosed forest’. 5. Indian (Punjab): Sikh name based on the name of a Jat clan, of unexplained etymology.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Hayer in the United States?

Based on the data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Hayer has seen a substantial increase in popularity between the years 2000 and 2010. Initially ranked at 39,052 in the year 2000, it climbed to 34,707 by 2010 - showing an improvement of 11.13%. In terms of overall count, the number of individuals bearing the surname Hayer increased from 531 to 651; an impressive rise of 22.6%. The proportion of individuals with the surname Hayer per 100,000 also increased by 10% during this decade.

20002010Change
Rank#39,052#34,70711.13%
Count53165122.6%
Proportion per 100k0.20.2210%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Hayer

Looking at the ethnic identity associated with the surname Hayer, again based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, there has been some significant shifts over the period from 2000 to 2010. The most notable change is within the Asian/Pacific Islander group, which saw a dramatic increase from 17.89% to 31.80%. There was also a new appearance of those identifying as Two or more races and American Indian and Alaskan Native, both not previously recorded in 2000. Those identifying as White decreased from 61.77% to 47.62%, while the Hispanic representation slightly grew from 3.77% to 4.30%. The Black community saw a minor increase, moving from 12.62% to 12.90%.

20002010Change
White61.77%47.62%-22.91%
Asian/Pacific Islander17.89%31.8%77.75%
Black12.62%12.9%2.22%
Hispanic3.77%4.3%14.06%
Two or More Races0%2.15%0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0%1.23%0%