# Letcher (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/letcher/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname originating as an occupation.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 2,094 |
| US rank (2010) | 14,296 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 147,443 people |
| Change since 2000 | +16% (1,812 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Middle English leche (“physician”). More at leech.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Letcher in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 80% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 14% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.6% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.3% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.1% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Letcher in the United States and Australia.

## People named Letcher

- Luke Letcher, Australian rower
- Robert P. Letcher, American governor of Kentucky (1788-1861)
- John Letcher, American politician (1813-1884)

## Similar surnames

Lesher, Locher, Lacher, Ledger, Ledgerwood, Ladouceur.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.