The origin of English surnames 1: work and status
A brief history of surnames in England
Surnames, in the sense of a fixed family name which passed down through the generations, came to England from the 11th century onwards, and pretty much universally during the 13th and 14th centuries.
In most towns, villages and areas before that, people would often have extra tags added to their names. If a village had 6 men called John in it, people would talk about John the Baker, John by the Church, John the Tall, and so forth. But John the Baker’s son Henry would, if he became a carpenter, be Henry the Carpenter, as an adult, not Henry Baker.
William Rufus, King of England, from a contemporary illustration
Surnames started off as an aristocratic idea - there may have been a few in Anglo-Saxon times, but the Norman Barons who came over with William the Conqueror really kicked it off.
William is a great example of pre-surnames - he was William the Conqueror (or William the Bastard, to his detractors) but his son, who followed him as King, was William Rufus (the red) because he had red hair or a red face. William the Conqueror’s next son to become King of England, Henry I, was commonly called Henry Curthose, because he wore short-lenght hose on his legs.
Occupational surnames
Many English surnames derive from occupations. As the 13th and 14th centuries drew on, John the Baker’s son was called Henry Baker, even if he followed another trade altogether.
The most common English surname today is “Smith”, as blacksmiths, goldsmiths, silversmiths and so forth were abundant across England.
Obvious occupation-related surnames
Other fairly common surnames show an obvious link to trades and occupations:
- Archer
- Baker
- Carter
- Cook
- Carpenter
- Driver
- Miller
- Taylor
- Weaver
Obsolete occupations and words
In many cases, surnames come from occupations which don’t exist any more, or where the word for the occupation has changed over time, and therefore the origin of the surname isn’t obvious.
A 16th century Fuller at work
Examples include:
- Arkwright
- Bailey
- Barker
- Cartwright
- Chapman
- Cooper
- Fletcher
- Fuller
- Turner
- Wainwright
- Ward
- Wheelwright
- Wright
“Bailey” is a corruption of “Bailiff”, a person who helped establish law and order, and often helped run a large, powerful aristocratic or gentry household. Bailliffs were also Royal Officials in towns and shires, to help keep the King’s Peace.
A barker was a man who tanned leather - so the surnames “Tanner” and “Barker” have a common origin. Tanning leather was a filthy line of work, involving rotting animal remains, and urine and dog muck used to cure the skins.
A chapman was a man who sold things, often a travelling salesman with a pack full of items such as needles, thread, and nails.
A cooper had an important job in any community, he made barrels. Many things were stored in barrels - beer, ale, wine, salt, flour and grain, for example. “Cooper” is a common English surname, as lots of barrels were made and used.
Fletchers made arrows, a now obsolete term. “Fletching” applied specifically to the process of balancing the arrow with fins or feathers, but the term “Fletcher” was used for arrow-makers in general.
“Turner” means a man who turned things on a lathe, usually to create wooden objects such as table-legs or poles.
“Ward” comes from someone who guarded or protected something, often a town’s or city’s walls. Similar words such as “warden” have a common origin.
"The Hay Wain", an 1821 painting by John Constable
“Wright” means a person who makes things, from the Old English word wryhta, meaning “worker”. So an Arkwright made chests and cupboards, a Cartwright made carts, a Wainwright made wagons or carts (from an old word wain, meaning wagon / cart) and a Wheelwright made wheels.
False Friends
Some surnames look obvious, such as “Walker”, but the origins are actually different from what we might suppose. The surname Walker doesn’t derive from someone walking for a living, or being a messenger. A walker was a man who helped full cloth, that is, turn it into tougher, less shrinkable woolen material. It comes from the Middle English word walkcere, meaning a man who fulls cloth with his feet. The surnames “Fuller” and “Tucker” refer to men who worked in fulling cloth, too.
“Butler” is another false friend - it is partly an occupational surname, from the Old French word bouteillier, or servant in charge of wine supplies. There is a separate origin for the surname for descendants of Theobald Walter, who was a 12th century politician.
Status surnames
Many surnames appear to show a high-ranking status, such as Bishop, Lord, Duke, and King. In most cases, the surname was started by a man who was in the employ or service of a Lord or Bishop, rather than actually being one himself.
For the next blog post in this series, please see: Origin of English surnames 2: patronymics or father’s first name
names and naming
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“Fletchers made arrows, a now obsolete term.”
I beg to differ. I am a fletcher by trade and I do not consider myself obsolete. I have many friends who are fletchers and I teach a course in fletching, so the tradition carries on. As a traditional archer I make my own bows, so I am a bowyer as well.
I didn’t know there were any Fletchers still working! Where do you work?
I think it’s reasonable, though, to refer to it as an obsolete term. I bet most people don’t know what it means, now.
I’m not a fletcher but I certainly knew what one was, and you can’t deem it obsolete while it’s still in use!
I agree, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t know what a Fletcher is. It might be a much reduced occupation but it’s certainly not obsolete.
Fair enough, I’ll give in to the general concensus, and agree that it’s a much reduced but not obselete craft.
I don’t know what a fletcher is
You do now…
How is the word turner obsolete? There are thousands of wood turners around the world, I would place a bet that there even a few with the family name of Turner. I also know for a fact that cooper is still in use as there are many coopers making the worlds barrels for wine, whiskey etc.
It’s certainly a trade which isn’t wholly historic, but there are a lot fewer turners and coopers than they used to be. I reckon most people wouldn’t know what either term meant in relation to work, what do you think?
“I would place a bet that there even a few with the family name of Turner”
i know/know of at least 10 different families with the surname turner… it’s not very rare.
i’m english by the way
I agree with Mike, I hope Turner is not an obsolete occupation as at the moment I am currently am a Turner (CNC Turner to be exact!)
what about surnames based on where people live?
(no, not as in a toilet 
)
such as Carr, mean someone who traditionally lived near a bog
That’ll be number 3 in the series!
Those will be coming in a later article - along with place name, and physical features
I know this is English surnames, but the old ’son of’ thing comes to play in lots of languages. In English we have names like Stephenson or Thomson and in Welsh they had Ab Huw (son of Huw) which became Pugh over time.
Surnames are very interesting!
I found your article interesting and informative. Even though now I am a social worker, I was originally a aircraft mechanic. I wonder If I would be Chris the Aircraft Mechanic if it was still used today. I think I wouldn’t mind that.
Maybe something a bit briefer, though, like “Chris the Plane-man”. Aircraft Mechanic would be a bit of a mouthful for a surname! And Chris Planeman would distinguish you from Chris the Builder down the road, or Chris, son of John in the next street.
Is Skeer surname a English name. There are letters that as far as King James I and the name had different spellings up to the current Skeers spelling. I could be Irish or Scottish. Is there an expert that knows this. Skeer/Skear came to the United States in the 1750’s.
Mr Skeers. You relinquish all rights as an English man when you go to the colonies. But Americans tell us that the US is the best country in the world, although they refuse to justify why, so why the interest now? Would you like to be connected with a Brit with bad teeth, horrible food and socialist medicine?
Any ideas on the origins of Slinger? I married one
Their understanding is that it too is associated with bow making. My thoughts are that it’s more likely to be a port or dock working occupation - i.e. the roping and slinging of cargoes to and from vessels
Small point; Henry I was Beauclerk, not Curthose. Beauclerk meant ‘learned’, as he was the only one of the family to learn to read (and also pretty sneaky to boot, as both his brothers would find out to their costs). Curthose was applied to his older brother Robert, Duke of Normandy.
Wrights worked with wood, as oppposed to Smiths who worked with metal. If the type of metal wasn’t specified, it was usually iron — a blacksmith.
I’m not so sure we should credit the Normans for surnames — not in the sense of family names passed down from fathers to all their children. The practice of adding a sobriquet was usual practice before the Normans, e.g., the Anglo-Saxon king Edward the Confessor (who lost to William the Conqueror) and Scots king Malcolm Canmore. William’s father was Robert, often called Deville, but more often “the Magnificent”. William’s sons all had different 2nd appellations, as did Henry’s.
I believe we didn’t see true surnames in England until the Crusaders came through Venice on their way back from the wars and copied the practice in the late 12th century. Still, only the aristocracy had that privilege; it wasn’t until the Black Plague’s aftermath that common people needed to be told from each other so their taxes could be collected. That puts the date sometime in the reign of Edward III or after — mid-14th to early 15th centuries — about 300+ years after the Battle of Hastings.
I think it can be put a bit earlier than the late 12th century - for example, John the Marshal, whose son William Marshal and grandchildren certainly appeared to inherit the surname.
OK, so let’s put it at the first crusade (1095-1099), rather than the third (1187-1192).
Do you have dates for John the Marshal & William Marshal? Was it, perhaps, that William inherited John’s office and title?
Whenever the aristocracy adopted surnames doesn’t change when the great bulk of people got them.
William Marshal lived from 1146 to 1219.
You can read all about him here, two articles - the first, about his earlier life, William the Marshal: The Greatest Knight, and the second, William the Marshal: 1st Earl of Pembroke & Regent of England
My dad’s family came from England three generations ago. The last name was East. What would that name have come from?
What about Brown?