The family name Reecer?

Question

So my last name is Reecer, and I'm not sure where it comes from yet. If anyone is good at this kind of thing and could help that would be nice, if not are there any easy ways of finding out that you know of?

Answer 1

As Wendy C advises, you need to construct your family tree, trace your grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on back, to discover where your family origins are. Your last name is only a guide to follow because it might have been altered from the original.

Reecer  

Last name origin & meaning:

Origin uncertain. Perhaps a respelling of Swiss German Rieser. Compare Reeser.

Reeser    

Last name origin & meaning:

Altered spelling of Swiss German Rieser.

Rieser    

Last name origins & meanings:

German: (Swiss): Alemannic form of Reiser.

German: habitational name for someone from Ries near Passau.

German: Alemannic variant of Rüs(s)er, a variant of Reusser

German: altered spelling of Riesser, a habitational name for someone from Ries(s), a region of Bavaria.

Answer 2

MY basic advice is that you can go in circles, when you try to 'work' a surname. What is more reliable, is to research the individual person/ ancestor and find valid records of his/ her origin.  

The reality is that many names come from more than one place, AND all persons with  a name are not always related.  There are sites online that give an "origin" of a name.. but these are generic, and will not necessarily be correct for your family.

Tracing your ancestry is not as hard as many people think.

http://rwguide.rootsweb.ancestry.com/

One of many tutorials on how to find the real records.

Answer 3

I have looked in several surname books to no avail; assuming there is no connection with the Welsh, RHYS, REECE.

I tend to go along with the German(ic) theory and also suggest that the surname may have been changed, perhaps considerably.  I have found the modern German 'Ritz' = a scratch and 'ritzen' = to scratch, cut (glass, etc.)  Perhaps your ancestor was a glass-cutter, probably 'Ritzer'.The 'i' can be  pronounced long so this would be spoken 'reetzer'.  It sounds like an occupation surname.

Your best way of being sure is to trace your family back as far as you can and note any different spellings (also perhaps use of any unusual Christian names). Good Luck