# Mayer (name)

Mayer is a common German surname and less frequent as a given name. Notable people with the name include:

## Surname
### Mayer

* Adolf Mayer (1843–1942), a German-Dutch virologist
* Albrecht Mayer (born 1965), German classical oboist
* Alfred G. Mayer (1868–1922), German-American cnidariologist and entomologist
* Alfred M. Mayer (1836–1897), American physicist
* Andreas Mayer (politician) (born 1995), German politician
* Arno J. Mayer (1926–2023), Luxembourgish historian
* Arthur Mayer (1886–1981), film producer and distributor who worked with Joseph Burstyn
* Auguste Étienne François Mayer (1805–1890), French naval painter
* Ben Mayer (1925–2000), amateur astronomer
* Bernadette Mayer (1945–2022), American poet and author
* Brantz Mayer (1809–1879), American writer
* Carl Mayer (1894–1944), Austrian-German screenwriter
* Charles Mayer (disambiguation)
* Christa Mayer, German mezzo-soprano
* Christa C. Mayer Thurman (born 1934), German-born American curator, art historian
* Christian Mayer (astronomer) (1719–1783), Czech astronomer
* Christian Mayer (skier) (born 1972), Austrian skier
* Christian Mayer (Wisconsin politician) (1827–1910), American politician
* Christian Gustav Adolph Mayer (1839–1907), German mathematician
* Christopher Mayer (American actor) (1954–2011), American actor
* Constant Mayer (1829–1911), French-born American painter
* Daisy von Scherler Mayer (born 1965), American film director
* Daniel Mayer (1909–1996), French politician
* Daniel Mayer (impresario) (1856–1928), German-born English agent and mayor
* David R. Mayer (born 1967), American politician
* Delia Mayer (born 1967), Swiss actress and singer
* Eckehard Mayer (born 1946), German classical composer and author
* Edelmiro Mayer (1834–1897), Argentine soldier and statesman
* Edwin Justus Mayer (1896–1960), American screenwriter
* Elizabeth Mayer (1884–1970), German-American translator and writer
* Else Mayer (1891–1962), German nun and women's liberation activist
* Emilie Mayer (1812–1883) German composer of Romantic music
* Erskine Mayer (1887–1957), American major league baseball player
* Florian Mayer (born 1983), German tennis player
* Francis Blackwell Mayer (1827–1899), United States painter
* Frank Mayer (1902–1960), American football player
* Fred Mayer (photographer) (1933–2021), Swiss photographer
* Fred Shaw Mayer (1899–1989), Australian zoological collector and aviculturist
* Frederick Mayer (1921–2006), German educational scientist
* Frederick Mayer (spy) (1921–2016), American spy during World War II
* Gene Mayer (born 1956), American former tennis player
* Gerhard Mayer (born 1980), Austrian discus thrower
* Gustav Mayer (1871–1948), German journalist and historian
* Hans Ferdinand Mayer (1895–1980), German mathematician and physicist, and author of the Oslo Report
* Hans-Peter Mayer (born 1944), German politician
* Helen Mayer (1932–2008), Australian politician
* Helene Mayer (1910–53), German and American Olympic champion foil fencer
* Henry "Hy" Mayer (1868–1954), German-American animator
* Irene Mayer Selznick (1907–1990), American theatrical producer, daughter of Louis B. Mayer
* Jacob Erskine Mayer (1889–1957), American baseball player
* Jacquelyn Mayer (born 1942), American beauty contest winner and motivational speaker
* Jane Mayer (born 1955), American investigative journalist
* Jaromír Mayer, Czech singer Jaromír Mayer [cs]
* Jean Mayer (1920–1993), French-American nutritionist, president of Tufts University
* Jean-François Mayer (born 1957), Swiss historian of religions
* Jim Mayer (ice hockey) (born 1954), Canadian ice hockey player
* Jim Mayer (musician), American musician
* Joanna Isabel Mayer (1904–1991), American mathematician and educator
* Johann Friedrich Mayer (agriculturist) (1719–1798), German agriculturist
* Johann Friedrich Mayer (theologian) (1650–1712), German theologian
* Johann Tobias Mayer (1752–1830), German physicist
* John Mayer (born 1977), American singer and songwriter
* John Mayer (composer) (1930–2004), Indian composer
* John D. Mayer, American psychologist
* Jojo Mayer (born 1963), Swiss drummer
* Jorge Mayer (1915–2010), Argentine priest, Archbishop of Bahía Blanca
* José Mayer, Brazilian actor
* Joseph Edward Mayer (1904–1983), American scientist, married to Maria Goeppert Mayer
* Karl Ulrich Mayer (born 1945), German sociologist
* Karla Mayer (born 1918, disappeared 1944), guard at three Nazi death camps
* Karoly Mayer (1908–2000), Hungarian footballer
* Klaus Mayer (1923–2022), German Roman-catholic priest and author
* Lauren Etame Mayer (born 1977), Cameroonian footballer
* Leonardo Mayer (born 1987), Argentine tennis player
* Leopold Mayer (died 1914), German swimmer
* Levy Mayer (1858–1922), American lawyer
* Lippman Mayer (1841–1904), German-American rabbi
* Louis B. Mayer (1884–1957), MGM studio mogul
* Lucas Mayer (disambiguation), several people
* Marcel Mayer, a French sculptor, painter and engraver
* Maria Goeppert Mayer, née Göppert (1906–1972), German-American physicist
* Marissa Mayer (born 1975), CEO of Yahoo!
* Martin Mayer (1928–2019), American nonfiction author
* Matías Mayer (born 1996), Argentine footballer
* Matthias Mayer (born 1990), Austrian retired alpine skier
* Mercer Mayer (born 1943), American children's book author and illustrator
* Michael Mayer (disambiguation), multiple people
* Mónica Mayer (born 1954), Mexican artist, activist and art critic
* Nathaniel Mayer (1944–2008), American rhythm-and-blues singer
* Norman Mayer (1916–1982), American anti-nuclear activist
* Oscar F. Mayer (1859–1955), founder of the Oscar Mayer Company
* Paul Augustin Mayer OSB (1911–2010), German cardinal
* Paul Avila Mayer (1928–2009), American television writer and producer
* Peter Mayer (1936–2018), American publisher
* Philip Frederick Mayer (1781–1858), United States Lutheran clergyman
* René Mayer (1895–1972), French politician
* Richard J. Mayer (born 1952), American engineer
* Robert Mayer (disambiguation), several people
* Rupert Mayer (1876–1945), Jesuit priest and Nazi resistance figure
* Sandy Mayer (born 1952), American former tennis player
* Sarah Mayer (1896–1957), British judoka
* Scott Mayer (bishop) (born 1955), American bishop
* Scott Mayer (racing driver) (born 1964), American race car driver
* Selma Mayer (1884–1984), "Schwester Selma", German-Jewish nurse
* Sergio Mayer (born 1966) Mexican actor and singer
* Sheldon Mayer (1917–1991), American cartoonist and editor
* Siegmund Mayer (1842–1910), German physiologist
* Stepanka Mayer (born 1949), Czech and German chess player
* Stephan Mayer (born 1973), German politician
* Stephen F. Mayer (1854–1935), American politician
* Teddy Mayer (1935–2009), American racecar driver and brother of Timmy
* Theresa Mayer, American nanotechnologist and academic administrator
* Thomas Mayer (American economist) (1927–2015), Neo-Keynesian economist
* Thomas Mayer (German economist) (born 1954), Deutsche Bank executive
* Tim Mayer (born 1966), son of Teddy and racecar executive
* Timmy Mayer (1938–1964), American racecar driver
* Tobias Mayer (1723–1762), German astronomer
* Victor Mayer (1857–1946), German jeweler
* Victoria Mayer (born 2001), Argentine volleyball player
* Walther Mayer (1887–1948), Austrian mathematician
* Wilhelm Mayer (composer) (1831–1898), Bohemian-Austrian musician
* Wilhelm Mayer (fighter pilot) (1917–1945), German Luftwaffe ace
* William Mayer (composer) (1925–2017), American composer
* William Daniel Mayer (born 1940), American politician
* Youngmi Mayer, American comedian

### Modified surname
#### de Mayer

* Nicholas De Mayer (c. 1631–1695), ninth mayor of New York City

#### von Mayer

* Julius Robert von Mayer (1814–1878), German physician and physicist who made significant contributions to early thermodynamics

## Variation on surname

* Mike-Mayer (surname)
* Maria Goeppert-Mayer (1906–1972), German-American physicist, married to Joseph Edward Mayer
* Heidrun Mohr-Mayer (1941–2014), German jeweler
* Herbert Mohr-Mayer (born 1933), German jeweler

## Given or middle name

A first or second Hebrew name, an alternative spelling of Meir:
* Hermann Mayer Salomon Goldschmidt
* Mayer Lambert (1863–1930), French orientalist
* Mayer Messing (1843–1930), German-American rabbi
* Mayer Amschel Rothschild family
** Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild
** Carl Mayer von Rothschild, founder of the Rothschild banking family of Naples
** David Mayer de Rothschild
** James Mayer Rothschild, founder of the Rothschild banking family of France
** Mayer Alphonse James Rothschild
** Mayer Amschel Rothschild
** Nathan Mayer Rothschild, founder of the Rothschild banking family of England
** Nathan Mayer Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild
** Salomon Mayer von Rothschild, founder of the Rothschild banking family of Austria
* Isaac Mayer Wise
* Mayer Hawthorne (born 1979), stage name of American rap singer