Names through history
Occupational Surnames
At a glance
Occupational surnames began as descriptions of what someone did for a living, such as Smith, Baker, Fletcher (arrow-maker) and Chapman (merchant). They are the third-largest group of British surnames, after names from places and names from relatives. Once a name became hereditary it stopped describing the bearer's job, although in England occupational names often stayed accurate into the 15th century.
- Most common
- Smith: 421,703 people in the 1881 census
- Same job, three regional words
- Walker (north and west), Fuller (south-east), Tucker (south-west)
- -ster names
- Baxter, Webster, Brewster, Lister: whether these were once "women's" words is disputed
Occupational surnames and what they meant
| Name | Meaning or origin | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Smith Old English smið | A metalworker, usually a blacksmith. Britain's commonest surname, because every community needed one. [2] | Recorded |
| Naismith Scottish | SNSBI's own pages disagree: one says 'nail smith', another 'knife-maker'. [2] | Uncertain |
| Baker English | A baker. William le Bakere, taxed in Norfolk in 1177, really was one. [1] | Recorded |
| Baxter Old English bæcestre | Also a baker. The -estre ending is often said to mark a woman baker, but that is disputed. [4] | Uncertain |
| Webster Old English webbestre | A weaver. Like Baxter, possibly first used of women weavers. [5] | Uncertain |
| Brewster Middle English brewestere | A brewer. The same -ster question applies. [8] | Uncertain |
| Lister Middle English | A dyer of cloth. [1] | Recorded |
| Walker Northern and western English | A fuller, who cleaned and thickened cloth, at first by treading ('walking') it in water. [3] | Recorded |
| Tucker South-western English | Another word for a fuller. [3] | Recorded |
| Fuller South-eastern English | A fuller of cloth. [3] | Recorded |
| Fletcher Old French flechier | A maker of arrows, who fitted the feathers. [9] | Recorded |
| Chapman Old English cēapmann | A merchant or dealer, often a travelling one. [10] | Recorded |
| Cooper English | A maker and mender of barrels and casks. [11] | Recorded |
| Thatcher English | A roofer who worked in thatch. [12] | Recorded |
| Bishop English | Rarely a real bishop. Names of high rank were common among ordinary people and probably began as nicknames. [1] | Recorded |
- Recorded Found in historical records.
- Uncertain The origin or meaning is disputed or unproven.
Names from work
Occupational surnames come from a person's trade, office or status. They are the third-largest group of British surnames, after locative names (from places) and patronymics (from fathers).[3]
Some are still everyday words: Baker, Carter, Miller, Shepherd, Tanner, Taylor. Many name trades whose words have dropped out of standard English: Arkwright (a maker of chests), Chapman (a merchant), Hillier (a roofer), Lister (a dyer). Status names belong here too. Burgess and Freeman probably described people accurately at first.[1]
The common occupational names arose separately in thousands of places. That is why Smith, Carter and Taylor are spread across the whole country, rather than clustering round one family's home.[1]
Smith and the metalworkers
Smith is Britain's most common surname, with 421,703 bearers in the 1881 census. Every village needed a blacksmith to make and mend tools, nails, locks, pots and horseshoes. Oddly, Blacksmith itself is a rare medieval surname and is missing from the 1881 census. People preferred plain Smith. The French-derived Farrar, from Old French ferrour, 'ironworker', is the same job.[2]
Towns had more specialised smiths, which gives us Arrowsmith, Goldsmith, Locksmith and Whitesmith (a tinsmith). Naismith is less settled: one SNSBI page explains it as 'nail smith', another as 'knife-maker', so we mark it uncertain.[2][1]
Cloth, and the same job under three names
Many occupational names come from the medieval cloth trade, on which the later medieval English economy depended. After weaving, cloth had to be fulled: scoured and pounded in water to clean it and thicken it. Until the 13th century this was mostly done by trampling it underfoot, which is why the fuller was called a walker in the north and west. Fuller was the south-eastern word and Tucker the south-western. The three surnames still show that split in the 1881 census.[3]
Other cloth names include Webster and Weaver, Lister and Dyer, Shearer and Sherman (who trimmed the nap with shears), and Draper, who sold the finished cloth.[3][1]
The -ster names: were they women's jobs?
Baxter, Webster, Brewster and Lister share an ending that goes back to Old English -estre. Baxter comes from bæcestre, related to bæcere, 'baker'. Dictionaries usually call -estre a feminine ending, so a popular claim says every Baxter descends from a woman baker.[7][6]
Scholars have argued about this for nearly a century. In 1933 the Danish linguist Otto Jespersen argued that -estre was never really feminine and simply meant someone who does a job, which would make Baxter just another word for a baker. G. Fransson replied in his 1935 study of Middle English occupational surnames. He noted that the commonest of these names (Bakestere, Litester, Webbester, Brewstere) were for trades that women plausibly did first, and concluded that the ending did begin as feminine but was applied to men too.[4][5]
Both sides agree that by the Middle Ages these words were used of men as well as women. Fransson also found the surnames concentrated in the Anglian counties of the east, Midlands and north, with over 100 examples in Norfolk, and rare in Sussex, Hampshire and Somerset.[5]
So 'Baxter means a female baker' is too simple. It may be true of the word's distant origin. It is not a safe claim about any family's first Baxter.
Jobs that weren't jobs
Some names that look occupational probably are not. King, Bishop, Pope, Monk and Sheriff were common among ordinary people. They most likely began as nicknames, perhaps for someone's manner, or for a part played in a local pageant. Names such as Cheese and Garlick may refer to a seller of those goods, or may simply be nicknames.[1]
The name described only the first person to bear it. William le Bakere, taxed in Norfolk in 1177, really was a baker. His descendants may have been called Baker whether or not they ever baked a loaf.[1]