Frequency: (2002)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German pfeffer, German Pfeffer ‘pepper’, a metonymic occupational name for a spicer; alternatively, it may be a nickname for a small man (as if the size of a peppercorn) or one with a fiery temper, or for a dark-haired person (from the color of a peppercorn) or anecdotal for someone who paid a peppercorn rent.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
