Ploger

Ploger is a surname of Dutch origin, occasionally written as Ploeger. It is generally understood to derive from the Dutch verb ploegen, meaning to plow, with the agent suffix -er, a common construction for occupational surnames.

Historically, ploger referred to a person who plowed fields. Through migration and regional spelling variations, the name spread beyond its core Dutch area into neighboring regions of the Low Countries and parts of Germany. In contemporary records, the surname appears in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and among diaspora communities.

As a surname, ploger is relatively uncommon and is rarely used as a given name. In onomastic studies, it is categorized as an occupational surname, reflecting an ancestral connection to agriculture and field work.

Notable individuals bearing the surname are not widely documented in major encyclopedic sources; the name is more commonly found in genealogical records than in public figures. The spelling variant Ploeger is closely related and can be seen in similar genealogical contexts.

Related terms include the Dutch root ploegen (to plow) and other occupational surnames formed with the -er suffix. The name reflects historical agricultural occupations common in Dutch-speaking regions and their linguistic descendants.