Lanier

Family name origins & meanings

• French, Dutch, and English : occupational name for someone involved in the wool trade, from an agent derivative of Old French la(i)ne ‘wool’.
• French and Dutch : occupational name, with the definite article, for a pack driver, from French âne ‘ass’, ‘donkey’ (Latin asinus).
• French and Dutch : nickname for a falconer, from Old French lanier, lenier, a kind of falcon.
• French and Dutch : nickname for a lazy, slow, timid, or cowardly person, from Old French lanier, lenier.