Another common type of medieval byname derived from how a man spent his time. Every farming village had a blacksmith to forge iron tools, a miller to grind wheat, a carpenter to craft furniture, and many other specialists. Some "job descriptions" had meanings different from what we might expect. For example, a farmer did not farm, he collected taxes; and a banker was a "dweller on a hillside or bank," not someone who dealt with money!
Many surnames are taken from jobs e.g. if a man was a carpenter he might be called John Carpenter and because sons very often followed their father's occupation the surname stuck. Some occupational surnames are obvious e.g. Smith, Potter, Cooper, Mason, Tailor or Taylor, Spinner, Weaver (Webb was another word for weaver, a webster was usually a female weaver), Dyer, Thatcher, Tyler, Slater, Miller, Baker, Cheeseman, Spicer, Cook, Fisher, Shepherd, Carter, Clarke, Skinner and Gardener (alternative spellings are Gardner and Gardiner). A fowler caught birds. A waterman rowed a boat or a barge. A wheeler is another name for a wheelwright. A hooper made hoops for barrels.
Some are less obvious. A sawyer was a man who sawed logs. A turner was a man who turned wood on a lathe and made things like wooden bowls. A roper made ropes. A shoesmith made horseshoes. A Mercer was a dealer in fine cloth. Farmer may seem obvious but in fact in the Middle Ages a fermier was a tax collector. Farmer took on its modern meaning much later. However a granger was man who looked after a grange or farm. A frobisher polished swords or armour.
A chapman and a hawker sold goods at markets. (The surname Hawk may be short for hawker or it may have begun as a nickname for a person who was as fierce as a hawk). People who sold goods of a certain kind were also called mongers. An inman was an innkeeper. Baxter is an old English word for a (usually female) baker. Brewer and Brewster both, obviously come from brewing.
In the Middle Ages poor people ate coarse, dark bread. Rich people ate fine, white bread. The surname Whitbread came from men who baked white bread.
Hurd or hird is from a man who looked after herds. A horner was a man who made things like ink pots and spoons from cow horn. We also, of course, have the surname spooner, a man who made spoons. A crocker was a man who made crocks.
Faulkner is derived from falconer and a man who made equipment for horses was a lorrimer. Malthus is derived from malt house.
In the Middle Ages wool was cleaned and thickened by pounding it in a mixture of clay and water. This was called fulling and it has given us the name fuller. (At first people called walkers used their feet to pound the wool so we have the surname Walker. Later the wool was pounded by wooden hammers worked by watermills). Lister was another word for a dyer. A barker was a man who dealt in bark for tanning leather. Flexman is a corruption of flax man, a man who grew flax for making linen.
A bowyer made bows and a stringer or stringfellow made the strings for bows. A fletcher made the shafts for arrows and attached the flights. An arrow smith made arrowheads. (There were many different types of arrowhead and making them was a craft in itself). There were also of course archers and bowmen.
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A wright was a man who wrought or made things. A wainwright was a man who made carts. Cartwright, obviously has the same origin. An arkwright was a man who made chests, which were called arks.
Under the feudal system most men were serfs or bondmen. That is where we get the surname Bond. However some men were free so we have the surname Fry. A franklin was a well-to-do farmer who owned his own land. Foster is a corruption of Forester. A knatchbull was man who hit bulls on the head to stun them before they were slaughtered. A bolter was a man who sifted meal although he could also be a man who made bolts, either the ones you use with nuts or bolts for crossbows. The surname bolt may be short for bolter but it has also been suggested it was a nickname for a person who was short and fat and looked like a bolt.
In a castle a chamberlain was an important official. The surname Chambers comes from the same source, a man who looked after the king's or a noble's private chambers. The name Spencer comes from a man who dispensed stores. Other officials were the parker who looked after the game park and the warriner who looked after rabbit warrens. From him we get the surname Warner. The reeve was an important official in a Medieval village. Bailey is a corruption of bailiff, another important official.
Dempster is derived from deemester, an old English word for a judge. Two other court officials were the summoner, who brought the prisoner before the judge and the beadle.
At a feast people dipped their finger in water between courses and they dried them with towels provided by a napier. (Although some people think this surname may come from the Scottish 'nae peer'). The marshall was responsible for seating arrangements. A kitchener washed up. The surname Parsons was given to a parsons servant.
There were also people who looked after certain things e.g. the hayward and the woodward. Coward is derived from cowherd. There was also a hog-ward () who gave us the surname Hoggart. A stot was a young ox and the man who looked after him was called a stot herd, which has become the surname Stoddard.
The surnames Yates and Yateman are corruptions of gates and gate man i.e. gatekeeper.
A burgess was a well off man who had certain rights in the borough where he lived.
