Is there any last Names of Miner or Vassar in Irish or Swedish?

Question

My grandfather came from New York and spread throughout N.Dak and S. Dak and marrying into the Lakota nation! The last name has been respelled many times over including Minaar,Minar, Minor and Miner. And does Vassar sound German?

Answer 1

Minor or however you want to spell it is probably English although it could be German or French, definately not Irish. Vassar is possibly German

Answer 2

Doesn't look like it could be Irish.Or German, but then maybe if the spelling has changed. Vassar seems French to me? Miner  could be English.

Answer 3

Vassar  

Last name origins & meanings:

Altered form of French Vasseur, a status name for a vassal in feudal society, from Old French vasseor, vasseur ‘vassal’. Compare French Levasseur.

Matthew Vassar (1792–1868), brewer and founder of Vassar College, was born at East Tuddingham, Norfolk, England, and came to Dutchess Co., NY, as a child in 1796. The family were originally French Huguenots called Vasseur, who fled to England in the late 17th century, to escape the persecution of Protestants in France following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.

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Miner    

Last name origin & meaning:

English: occupational name for someone who built mines, either for the excavation of coal and other minerals, or as a technique in the medieval art of siege warfare. The word represents an agent derivative of Middle English, Old French mine ‘mine’ (a word of Celtic origin, cognate with Gaelic mein ‘ore’, ‘mine’).

Answer 4

Miner is a fairly common name in the UK with over 200 people listed on the Electoral Roll.

Vassar - 11 people listed.

Vasser just one.

Vasserman I've come across as belonging to a Jewish family.

Answer 5

I found this for you in relation to the names you are researching.

Surname: Miner

Recorded in the spellings of Minor, Minors, Miner, Miners, the French Huguenot Minier, and its possible variant Minear, this is an English surname of French origins. It was introduced into England after the 1066 Norman Invasion, and again in the 17th century for religious reasons. It could be described as occupational, being from the 8th century word "mineur", and as such a metonymic or nickname for a builder of tunnels and pits. The English equivalent surname is probably Pitts or Petts, a digger of pitts. There is also some confusion with the Roman (Latin) word "minor" meaning lesser, which in medieval times and later, was often applied to a younger son, as "major" was to the elder son. Although the very earliest recordings of this surname are almost certainly occupational, later versions may well refer to a relationship. Where the surname is recorded with the suffix "s", this implies the patronymic "son of Miner". Early examples of surname recordings include Adam Le Miner, in the 1212 Curia Regis Rolls of Lincoln, whilst Henry le Minr, appears in the 1234 Pipe Rolls of Derbyshire. John le Minour is recorded in the wills of the town of Hastings, Sussex, in the year 1275, whilst Richard Minnour, appears in the 1273 rolls of Somerset. Later recordings include Easter Minor, baptised at St James church, Clerkenwell, in 1600, and James Miner, who married Elizabeth Borrowes at St Georges chapel, Hanover Square, London, in 1760. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Jordan le Mineur, which was dated 1195 in the Pipe Rolls of Cornwall, during the reign of King Richard 1st of England, known as "The Lionheart", 1189-1199.

Surname: Vassar

Recorded as Vaissiere, Vassar, Vasser, Vassier, Vosser, Vasseur, Vaseur (England), and Vaisse, Vayase, Vaisset, Vaysset, Vaissiere, Vaissier, Vaseur, and others (French), this is a surname of French origins. It is occupational and described a servant usually of the bed chamber. For some reason not known it was originally to be found in the region of France known as the Massif Central and later elsewhere. Like many such names it appears to be of humble origins, but in fact most surnames of this type had considerable status, and whilst Butler, Steward (Stuart), and Constable, may seem ordinary surnames, they are in fact those of the heads of state of Ireland, Scotland and later England, and France! In this case the name is also associated with Hugunenot Protestant refugees who fled France in th 17th and 18th centuries to avoid religious persecution. It is not clear as to when the first nameholders arrived in England but the earliest that we can find in the registers is that of Jan Vaseur at Threadneedle Street French Church, in the city of London, on June 9th 1605, and Jacob Vaissiere and his wife Mary, who were christening witnesses at the famous church of St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on February 28th 1633.

Hope this helps.

Answer 6

This is from ancestry.com:

Altered form of French Vasseur, a status name for a vassal in feudal society, from Old French vasseor, vasseur ‘vassal’. Compare French Levasseur.