Does anyone knows the origin of the last name ''Doyer''

Question

this is my mom's maiden name, and she was adopted so we have no idea of the origins.

Answer 1

Close to mine which is Dryer

We are of German and Dutch backgrounds

Very few of us left

Good Luck in your search

Billee B

Answer 2

Most surnames ending in -er are of Germanic origin, so I don't think this is an exception

Answer 3

Ancestry doesn't have it in their Oxford Book of American Names.

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/...

has 145 entries if you click on "Omit blank" next to the birthplace. They were born in France, Canada, Amsterdam, South Africa, the USA and some cities ("Krefeld") I recognize as German.

So, her Doyer ancestor was probably European unless he was African-American. Not British, not Scandinavian. It looks like Huguenot to me; a lot of them left France for other countries when the Catholics got stiff about non-believers. Lots and lots of Huguenots went to England though, so the lack of Doyers born in England is troubling to that theory.

There may be a ton of Doyers from Hungary or Slovakia whose descendants are not interested in Genealogy, too, so they never posted their research on RWWC.

I'm sorry. Surname origins are clues at best, and there just are not many facts I can find for Doyer.

Answer 4

It is a French name, not so common in northern  France today, and  mainly limited to the Pas de Calais region facing the channel. Some Doyer were from Charly sur Marne, Aisne Province.  It was also, as said, an Huguenot name.

Is more common in French Martinica (Martinique), Santo domingo and theCaribbeanss , for the descendant of a quite famous pirate.

Lewis or Louis Doyer, was the commander of the ship "Le compte de poix" registered as commercial ship on the line Santo Domingo- Le Havre  by a ghost "Compagnie du Senegal" (Senegal company) in 1712  and  sank in february 1713 near Anegada Islands in the Carribeans (see here http://www.blytmann.com/wrecks2.htm) .

There is a very nice story about how Doyer probably put the ship on fire and escaped to Bermuda with a loot of 20,000 sterling Pounds. In the calendar of state papers of West Indies, you will find a petition against him on the subject here http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.... (look under July  6 or search for Doyer)

The name is also  quite common  in Canadian Quebec (was one of the original French families, of, again a Louis or Lewis Doyer, then linked with Audet family). Could he be the same, after the years as a pirate?

About the US Doyer are recorded in Kenton, Mason and Jefferson ,  Kentucky since 1865 in the federal census 1920 here http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.d...