Where the Snyder name comes from

Snyder began as an occupational name for a tailor, the English spelling of the Dutch surname Snijder. It traces back to the Dutch verb snijden, meaning to cut. The same root gives the modern Dutch surnames Snijders and Sneijder. The spelling also stands in for German Schneider and Alemannic German Schnyder, which name the same trade.

Yiddish carried the name as Shnayder, and families arriving in English-speaking countries wrote it out as Snyder or Snider. That puts it in company with Taylor and Parmenter, occupational surnames for the same work. The 2010 United States census counted 160,262 people carrying it, the 165th most common surname in the country.