Voller to Vanleer
I trace my family back to Hans Vollers born in Switzerland in 1470. After the Battle of Grandson he was made a "burger" in Zurich and the name changed to von Lahr. They came to the US by way of England in the late 1600s after purchasing land in Chester Co, PA from William Penn. Once he arrived in the US, Dr Bernardhus Van Leer changed the name spelling once again. He married Mary Branson who's father was an early iron baron. Bernardhus bought land in NJ from the Penn brothers and two of his sons moved there. Other relatives spread out across the country: to Tennessee, Missouri and further west. At some point the name became Vanleer, probably to avoid the assumption that it was a Dutch name. The whole story can be found on www.vanleerplus.org