Leeder

Variations – Leader, Leders, Loder, Lederer.
Racial Origin – English
Source – An occupation   

You need more than three guesses to pick the occupation from which this group of family names has been developed.  The reason is that the meaning of the word itself has changed since the medieval period in which it became a surname.

It’s not exactly a piece of practical knowledge to know that originally the words “lead” and “load” had very similar meanings.  We use the verb “lead” today in the sense of “showing the way,” but in medieval times its most usual meaning was that of pulling or carrying a load; as often carrying as pulling.

So, if you bear any of the family names in this group you may be reasonably sure that in the dim distant past one or more of your ancestors filled a position in the economic life of the community as a bearer of burdens, a teamster and drayman of today.  He may have been either a bearer of loads himself , or an employer of such men, and more than likely specialized in the service of some particular mercantile trade.