What is the origin of last name "Leger"?

Question

i was told its french but then i heard its acadian?

Answer 1

This information came from  http://www.surnamedb.com/

Surname: Leger

This interesting name drives from the Olde German personal name Leodegar composed of the elements "liutr" meaning "people" or "tribe", plus "gari" a spear. Hence, "People-Spear". St. Leger, a 7th Century martyr and bishop of Autun, contributed to the popularity of the name in France. In Germany, the name was connected with a different saint an 8th Century bishop of Munster. The name was introduced into England by the Normans and is first recorded (without surname) in the 1192 "Pipe Rolls of Hampshire". The surname appears in the latter half of the 13th Century, (see below). In the modern idiom, the name has two spelling variations, Leger and Ledger. On April 25th, 1585, William Ledger and Elizabeth May were married at St. Margarets, Westminster, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Adam Leger. which was dated 1279, in the "Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire". during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

hope this helps.

Answer 2

Surname: Leger

This interesting name drives from the Olde German personal name Leodegar composed of the elements "liutr" meaning "people" or "tribe", plus "gari" a spear. Hence, "People-Spear". St. Leger, a 7th Century martyr and bishop of Autun, contributed to the popularity of the name in France. In Germany, the name was connected with a different saint an 8th Century bishop of Munster. The name was introduced into England by the Normans and is first recorded (without surname) in the 1192 "Pipe Rolls of Hampshire". The surname appears in the latter half of the 13th Century, (see below). In the modern idiom, the name has two spelling variations, Leger and Ledger. On April 25th, 1585, William Ledger and Elizabeth May were married at St. Margarets, Westminster, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Adam Leger. which was dated 1279, in the "Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire". during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307.

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Leger    

Last name origins & meanings:

French (Léger) and English: from the Germanic personal name Leodegar (see Ledger).

French: nickname from léger ‘light’, ‘superficial’.

English: see Letcher.

Dutch (also de Leger): occupational name from Middle Dutch legger, ligger ‘bailiff’, ‘tax collector’.

A Leger from Normandy, France, was in Quebec City by 1644; another was in Montreal by 1659. One from Limousin, France, was in Quebec City by 1691; another, from Paris, was there by 1706; and a third, from Poitou, France, arrived in 1711.

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Ledger    

Last name origins & meanings:

English: from a Norman personal name, Leodegar, Old French Legier, of Germanic origin, composed of the elements liut ‘people’, ‘tribe’ + gār, gēr ‘spear’. The name was borne by a 7th-century bishop of Autun, whose fame contributed to the popularity of the name in France. (In Germany the name was connected with a different saint, an 8th-century bishop of Münster.)

English: variant of Letcher, in part a deliberate alteration to avoid the association with Middle English lecheor ‘lecher’.

Answer 3

The name is fairly common among the Cajun population of Southeast Texas and Louisiana.  They pronounce it Lay Jay.  

Ancestry.Com states

1. French and English from the Germanic personal name Leodegar(see Ledger)

2. French nickname from leger 'light' 'superficial'

3. English see Letcher

4. Dutch (also deLeger)  occupational name from Middle Dutch legger, ligger, 'bailiff' 'tax collector.'