A Scottish and English surname, Byers comes from the Middle English term ‘byre’ which referred to an area near a cattle shed or holding area for cattle. The spelling variations for Byers include Byris, Buyers, Byres and Byer. In northern England is the greatest concentration of Byers families. Most live in Northumberland, Cumberland, Durham, Yorkshire and Lancashire. Along the southern border of Scotland is where many of the Byers families have lived for centuries, most residing in Dumfries-shire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Lanarkshire counties. Within the United States the original Byers families settled in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, North Carolina and Indiana. Famous: Lyndon Byers (professional ice hockey player from Canada), John W. Byers (major architect and builder in Southern California using the Spanish Colonial Revival style during the mid-20th century), Roddy Byers (musician - guitar), William Newton Byers (pioneer of Denver, Colorado and then and then one of the founding leaders of Omaha, Nebraska), Bill Byers (professional baseball player) and Jeff Byers (professional football player).