Find out how popular the last name Filer is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Filer.

Filer, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Filer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Filer in America

Filer is the 12682nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Filer surname appeared 2,436 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Filer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Filer to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Filer

The surname Filer originated in England during the medieval period. It is an occupational name derived from the Old English word 'filere', which means 'file maker' or 'file polisher'. The name likely referred to someone who manufactured or worked with files, which were tools used for smoothing or shaping metal or wood.

Filer is believed to have first appeared in England in the late 12th century, with early recordings of the name found in various tax rolls and census records. One of the earliest known mentions of the surname is in the Pipe Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1196, which lists a Robert le Filere.

The Filer surname was particularly prevalent in the counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, and Wiltshire, where many early bearers of the name lived and worked as file makers or metalworkers. Variations in spelling were common, with early forms including Filere, Filour, and Fylour.

Notable historical figures with the surname Filer include John Filer, a wealthy merchant from Bristol who lived in the 15th century. He served as the Mayor of Bristol in 1449 and was a prominent figure in the city's trade and commerce.

Another notable Filer was Thomas Filer, a 16th-century English clergyman who served as the Archdeacon of Taunton from 1563 to 1578. He played a significant role in the religious reforms of the Church of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

In the 17th century, the Filer surname appeared in the records of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in America. Thomas Filer, born in England in 1609, was among the early Puritan settlers who arrived in the colony in 1635.

John Filer, born in 1676 in Gloucestershire, England, was a notable figure in the early history of Pennsylvania. He emigrated to the colony in 1701 and became a prominent land surveyor and mapmaker, contributing to the development of the region.

In the 19th century, William Filer, born in 1819 in Somerset, England, was a renowned horticulturist and botanist. He introduced several new plant species to Britain and was a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Filer

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Filer.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Filer was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Filer has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Filer was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Filer, please contact us.

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