First found in the southern regions of Bavaria and Bohemia, where members of this family became prominent contributors to the development of the district from ancient times. Always prominent in social affairs, the name became an integral part of that powerful region, as it emerged to form alliances with other families within the Feudal System.

The great European flow of migration to North America, which began in the middle of the 17th century and continued into the 20th century, was particularly attractive to those from Bavaria who wished to escape either poverty or religious persecution. For many Bavarian tenant farmers, the chance to own their own land was a major incentive. So the widespread colonization of the United States began in 1650, when many immigrants from Germany settled in pockets in Pennsylvania, Texas, New York, Illinois, and California. In Canada, German settlement centered in Ontario and the prairie Among those of this surname listed in various historical records were: Johan Adam Schreyer arrived in Philadelphia in 1738; while Johannes Schreyer arrived there in 1743. More Schreyers arrived in Philadelphia in 1752; including Adam Leonhart Schreyer, Friederich Schreyer, and Johann Simon Schreyer. J. C. F. Schreyer came to Texas in 1849. Georg Conrad Schreier came to Philadelphia in 1738.

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