An English surname, the Chandler family name refers to a seller or producer of candles. The Latin form was ‘candelarius’ and the Middle England term was ‘chandeler.’ The name later referred to the person in charge of lighting the candles.

Spelling variations of Chandler include Chandlers, Candler, Chaundler, Channdiers and Channdler.

Chandler families are mostly located in the southeastern portion of England, especially in London, Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Middlesex and Hampshire. In Scotland most Chandler families are in Lanarkshire and Angus counties.
The Chandler surname is located across most of the United States. The states with the greater percentage of Chandler individuals are California, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Oregon, Massachusetts, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Virginia, Washington, Missouri, Alabama and New York.

Famous: Chris Chandler (professional football player), Harry Chandler (publisher of the Los Angeles Times), Jeff Chandler (actor), Michelle Chandler (basketball player from Australia), Seth Carlo Chandler (19th century astronomer), Shannon Chandler (movie actress), Polly Chandler (photographer), Helen Chandler (theater and film actress), Charlotte Chandler (biographer and playwright) and Abiel Chandler (19th century founder of Dartmouth’s College’s Chandler School of Science and the Arts).