Surname

Potentially recorded in various spellings including: Lehr, Lehrer, Lehrian and Lehrmann.
The Lehrer surname can be either Germanic or Hebrew, and it also has several possible origins. The first two possible origins are:

Teacher

The most probable option for the origin of the Lehrer surname is from the word Lehrer, meaning teacher or rabbi in the German language. This may be religious or it may describe a teacher in a traditional elementary school. It would depend on the particular circumstances at the time that the surname was given out or adopted.

Locational

The origin may be topographical and derive from the ancient pre-7th-century word lehr akin to the English 'leah', and as such describing an enclosure suitable for agriculture or a water meadow, one which was flooded in winter but dried out for summer grazing. There are several places in Southern Germany and Austria called 'Lehr'. These place names might have derived from old water meadows.

The topographical-locational option certainly seems likely for some of the other potential spellings which have been suggested and would be possible for the linage in southern Germany. This would also fit with what one Lehrer family researcher has noted about the Lehrer name in Dabo, France for the year 1772:

“If this is an occupational name, then this would have been relatively rare as this was at the beginning of the time when surnames were given based on a man's occupation.”

Jewish Lehrers

There is a well documented family that trace their lineage to a Jewish teacher in Poland. While possible, it appears very unlikely that the southern German and the Jewish family lines are connected.

The possible link from the Rhineland Lehrers to the Polish line relates to emigration from France and southern Germany. There was no systematic, official method of emigration, and few emigration lists are available, yet significant numbers of emigrants were known to leave southern Germany and Alsace during the following periods:

• 1618 to 1648 and immediately after: The Thirty Years War created large movements in and around what is today southern Germany.
• 1650 to 1750: Large numbers depart central Europe for the new opportunities in America

1722: Alsatian colonies established in the Holy Roman Empire (Austria-Hungary).
1764 to 1786: Alsatians colonise Russia, Ukraine, and Banat.
1789 to 1791: About 500,000 refugees flee the French Revolution for neighbouring nations and the Americas. About half later returned.
1804 to 1832: Additional Alsatians emigrate to Ukraine, Bessarabia, and Banat.

Also the registres d'options de noms 1808 became a de facto census of the Jewish people of France. The numbers are interesting. According to a list in the Archives nationales there were 46,054 Jewish people in France who chose permanent names. The majority were in the departments of Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, and Moselle, areas that some Lehrer families lived in. In each, the head of a family, usually the husband and father, gives for each family member his or her name, date and place of birth, and the surname and forenames chosen.

Germanic Lehrers

There are a number of Lehrer families originating in southern Germany, north, west France, Austria and Bavaria, although unlikely some of these different lineages may all originate from the one family. By following the birth places of the people furthest back in the known Lehrer family lines, as we move further back in time, there is a consistent movement into southern Germany.

The earliest known record of births and marriages for Lehrer families are the children of Georg Lehrer and his wife Sibilla who lived in Bayern, Germany and they had three known children who were all baptised in Evangelisch, Landau in Pfalz Stadt, Pfalz, Bavaria

• Christianus Lehrer - Baptised 18 August 1577
• Maria Lehrer - Baptised 2 June 1581
• Margaretha Lehrer – Baptised 24 May 1584

There is a Lehrer family crest which would indicate there is likely recordings of who this was issued to and where they were from. This is likely to be found somewhere in Württemberg, Germany as during the late 1500s and the early part of the 1600s, almost all recorded Lehrer, birth, death and marriages appear to be located in what was then the kingdom of Wurttemberg, which is now a part of Germany.

Moving into the late 1600s and early 1700s the recorded births, deaths and marriages spread out through the Rhineland and include Alsace which was partially independent and is now a part of France, Austria and other parts of Germany.

By the late 1700s and early 1800s, a significant number of Lehrers moved elsewhere around the world, specifically to the Americas.

Mattheus Lehrer

In Württemberg it would be possible to attribute the Lehrer name to a schoolmaster, Mattheus Lehrer (21 Jan 1654 – 6 Feb 1721) who was born in Otisheim, WurrtemBurg, Germany. He was the Schoolmaster in Otisheim, which would readily attribute the Lehrer surname as an occupational name. However it appears that he was born with this surname amongst other Lehrers who were born in Württemberg, Germany in the early 1600s.

Famous Lehrers

• Brian Lehrer
  Brian Lehrer
  Brian Lehrer is a radio talk show host on New York City's public radio station WNYC. His daily two-hour 2007 Peabody Award-winning program, The Brian Lehrer Show, features interviews with newsmakers and experts about current events and social issues...
  
   (1952- ), American talk show host
• Jim Lehrer
  Jim Lehrer
  James Charles "Jim" Lehrer is an American journalist and the executive editor and former news anchor for PBS NewsHour on PBS, known for his role as a frequent debate moderator during elections...
  
   (1934- ), American journalist, author of fiction and non-fiction, and TV news anchor
  • The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
    The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
    PBS NewsHour is an evening television news program broadcast weeknights on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States. The show is produced by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, a company co-owned by former anchors Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil, and Liberty Media, which owns a 65% stake in the...
    
    
• Jonah Lehrer
  Jonah Lehrer
  Jonah Lehrer is an American journalist who writes on the topics of psychology, neuroscience, and the relationship between science and the humanities...
  
  , author of How We Decide
  How We Decide
  How We Decide, a book by Jonah Lehrer, provides biological explanations of how people make decisions and offers suggestions for making better decisions.-Summary:Sections/chapters of the book are titled as follows:* Introduction...
  
  
• Keith Lehrer
  Keith Lehrer
  Keith Lehrer is the Regent's Professor emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Arizona with an affiliation with the University of Miami in Florida. He previously taught at the University of Rochester....
  
   (1936- ), American philosopher
• Lucky Lehrer
  Lucky Lehrer
  Lucky Lehrer is a drummer from Los Angeles, California, voted the best punk drummer of all-time by fanzine, Flipside. He was originally trained in jazz but most famously played in LA punk rock bands, particularly the Circle Jerks, Redd Kross, Bad Religion, Darby Crash Band and LA's Wasted Youth,...
  
  , drummer
• Tom Lehrer
  Tom Lehrer
  Thomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, mathematician and polymath. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater...
  
   (1928- ), American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, and mathematician
  • An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer
    An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer
    An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer is an album recorded by Tom Lehrer, the well-known satirist and Harvard lecturer. The recording was made on March 20-21, 1959 in Sanders Theater at Harvard.-Track listing:#"Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" – 2:38...
    
    
  • Tom Lehrer Revisited
    Tom Lehrer Revisited
    Revisited is a 1960 album by Tom Lehrer, consisting of live recordings of all the songs from 1953's Songs by Tom Lehrer. The CD reissue of the album contains two additional tracks that Lehrer wrote and performed for the PBS television show The Electric Company .-Track listing:# "Introduction" –...