The Hammer surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 21,709 people carried this name — #1,661 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 13,600 people counted. That is down 1% from 21,947 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Hammer surname
Shortened West Ham + -er, with a pun on hammer.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Hammer» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
805 people named Hammer live in Switzerland.
They live in 19 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
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 507 people named Hammer.
44 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 33 départements, most often Bas-Rhin.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Poland’s population register
193 people named Hammer have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 280 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 11 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Subcarpathian.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 112 people named Hammer live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Misiones.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 38 people named Hammer live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Limburg.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
3,491 people named Hammer are counted in Norway and Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Norway publishes only surnames with 200 or more bearers.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Statistics Norway (SSB, ssb.no), table 12891, 2025 — CC BY 4.0.
In print
Hammer in American newspapers,
1902–1915.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 937,301 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Hammer,
with a public archive behind them.
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Heinrich Hammer d. 1997 · theologian
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Scott M. Hammer d. 2021 · medical researcher
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Hans Meiger von Werde 1450–1519 · architect
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Friedrich Hammer 1450– · sculptor
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Claus Hammer 1542–1585
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Johann Hammer 1548–1606 · pedagogue
Wikidata (CC0) · 8 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Hammer.
- Hamma 244 · U.S. census
- Hammad 1,126 · U.S. census
- Hamman 4,555 · U.S. census
- Hammann 839 · U.S. census
- Hamme 614 · U.S. census
- Hammel 5,146 · U.S. census
- Hammerschmidt 1,090 · U.S. census
- Hammes 2,227 · U.S. census
- Hammond 69,515 · U.S. census
- Hamon 2,031 · U.S. census
- Hamond 252 · U.S. census
- Hamoud 181 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Hammer 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.