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Sanders and Saunders are patronymic surnames that are for the most derived from Sander, a medieval and possibly Saxon form of Alexander.  Saunders is the English spelling for the most part, Sanders the American spelling.  The table below shows the approximate breakdown of the numbers today.

Numbers (000's)	UK	America	Elsewhere (1)
Saunders	54	23	20
Sanders	24	62	19

(1)  Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Some Sanders in America are of German origin, Sander being a topographical name for someone who lived on sandy soil.

Select Sanders/Saunders Resources on The Internet

• Sanders Web.  Saunders/Sanders name origins.
• Saunders Family History.  Saunders from Keynsham in Somerset and elsewhere.
• My Saunders Family.  Saunders from Buckinghamshire to America.
• The Saunders Family History.  The Quaker Joseph Saunders and his descendants in America.
• WASRG.  The William Aaron Saunders research group.

England.  The Saunders name was mainly to be found in SE England.  Some of the early Saunders showed a direct Alexander-to-Saunders link.  John Alisaundre, who was the MP for Arundel in Sussex in 1296, was the forebear of many of the Sussex and Surrey Saunders.  There was also an alternative possible derivation of the name, from the Sanderstead place-name in Surrey.  The Sanders of Sander Place in Surrey claimed descent from a Watkin de Sanderstead of pre-Norman times. 

The Saunders of Harrington in Northamptonshire were said to have spelt their name originally Saundhurst. Laurence Saunders of this family was martyred for his Protestant faith in 1555.   A later Saunders was one of Cromwell's adventurers in Ireland.  Meanwhile, the Sanders name has cropped up more in Devon and in the midlands and the north.

America.  Saunders and some Sanders came to America during the colonial era.   By the 19th century, many Saunders - following the pronunciation - changed their spelling to Sanders; and, following the influx of new Sanders from elsehere - Sanders outnumber Saunders by  almost three to one in America today.

Select Sanders/Saunders Names

Sir Edward Saunders was Chief Baron of the Exchequer to Queen Elizabeth.
T.H. Saunders, born in London, was a Victorian paper-maker whose innovative watermarks were first shown in the 1851 Great Exhibition.
Colonel Sanders, the pseudonym of Harland David Sanders, was the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Larry Sanders was the fictional character played by Garry Shandling in the American TV series The Larry Sanders Show.

Select Sanders/Saunders Today

• 78,000 in the UK (most numerous in London)
• 85,000 in America (most numerous in Texas)
• 39,000 elsewhere (most numerous in Australia)
  

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For other surnames check the companion selectsurname.com site where there are to be found the history and genealogy for more than 500 surnames.

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