The Ayer surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 3,415 people carried this name — #9,520 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 86,200 people counted. That is up 2% from 3,353 in 2000.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
600 people named Ayer live in Switzerland.
They live in 14 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Fribourg.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 73 people named Ayer.
14 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 15 départements, most often Ardennes.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In print
Ayer in American newspapers,
1888–1919.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 1,382,878 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Ayer,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Richard Hazen Ayer 1778–1853 -
James H. B. Ayer 1788–1864 · politician -
James Cook Ayer 1818–1878 · businessperson -
Frederick Ayer 1822–1918 · businessperson -
Martha Augusta Hinkley Ayer 1822–1891 -
Julian Ayer d. 2004
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Ayer.
When the index is not enough
This page says where Ayer is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.