Show ContentsLater History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

In mediaeval German "lud" meant "fame" and "liut" or "Leute" meant "people" or "folk;" while "her," meant "army." Thus "liut-her" meant "person in the army," while "lud-her" would be a "famous soldier."

Early Origins of the Later family

The surname Later was first found in Saxony, where the name emerged in mediaeval times as one of the notable families of the region. In northern Germany the name Lueder was more popular, while in southern Germany the root was Liut-her or Leuther, and in Thuringia "Luther" (Martin Luther's father wrote his name "Luder"). In mediaeval German "lud" meant "fame" and "liut" meant "Leute" ("people" or "folk," thus "liut-her" would be "Lord of the people",) and these are the two possible sources for the name. From the 13th century the surname was identified with the great social and economic evolution which made this territory a landmark contributor to the development of the nation.

Early History of the Later family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Later research. Another 149 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1415, 1456, 1472, 1483, 1546, 1636, 1685, 1716, 1787 and 1806 are included under the topic Early Later History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Later Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Luther, Lutter, Luter, Lueder, Lueders, Leuther, Luethi (Switzerland), Leuthiold, Luethold, Lutte and many more.

Early Notables of the Later family

Prominent bearers of the family name Later at this time were Peter Luder (1415-1472), German professor of Latin at the University of Heidelberg from 1456; and Martin Luther (1483-1546), who was the dominating personality of the Reformation, and one of the greatest religious reformers the world has known. His greatest literary monument amongst...
Another 52 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Later Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Later migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Later Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • John Later, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1876 1


  1. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)


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