Strange interests

Names - where did your name come from?
Why did your parents pick it? What does it mean?
These names come from professions:


Ackerman - An oxherder
Ambler - Broke in horses
Archer - A professional Archer
Backster - Baker
Bailey - A bailiff
Baker - Baked
Balister - Archer
Barber - Cut hair, pulled teeth, let blood
Barker - Tanner, one who processes leather
Bauer - Farmer
Baxter - A baker
Beck, Becker - A baker
Bellman - Night watchman or town crier
Belter - Made bells
Bender - Cut leather
Binder - Bound items
Bloomer - A man who works an iron smelting forge
Bower, Bowman, Bowyer - Made bows and arrows
Brazier Brass - worker
Brewer - Made beer
Brewster, Brewer - made beer
Bricker - Brick maker
Brightsmith - Metal worker
Bunter - Rag and bone collector
Butcher - Processed and sold meat
Butler - Cared for the cellar and was in charge of wine and beer
Carpenter - Worked with wood and built things
Carrier - One who hauls messages or small goods
Carter - A cart driver, a teamster
Cartwright - A cart maker
Carver - A sculptor
Chamberlain - A position in a castle, one responsibility was finances
Chambers - Looked after their lord's affairs
Chaplin - A chaplain
Chapman - A traveling peddler
Chandler - A candle maker
Clark - A clerk or scholar
Collier - Produced charcoal
Constable - A person who took care of a castle in the absence of the owner
Cook - Cooked
Cooper - A barrel maker
Cordwainer - worked in fine leather, made shoes
Currier - Cured leather
Cutler - Made knives
Day - A dairy worker
Draper - Cloth merchant
Dyer - Dyed cloth and clothes
Faber - Smith, someone who makes things
Falconer - Cared for and hunted with birds
Farmer - Farmed
Fisher - One who fishes
Fletcher - An arrow maker
Fowler - Keeper or catcher of birds
Forester - Like a modern day sheriff, patrolled the woods
Franklin - a freeholder
Freedman - One released from slavery
Frobisher - Polished armour and swords
Fuller - Made felt, trampled cloth
Gardner, Gardener - A gardener
Glazier - One who cuts and sets glass
Glover - Made gloves
Goldsmith - A jeweler who works with gold
Greensmith - Worker in copper
Groom - A man who tends horses
Hacker - Maker of hoes
Hackler, Hackman - Processed flax or hemp to make linen
Harker - Another name for Herald, town crier
Harper - Plays the harp
Hatchler - See Hackler
Hatter - Made hats
Hawker - Peddler
Hayward - Someone who tended the hedges
Herald - Town criers, spread the news
Hewer - Tree cutter
Hillard, Hiller, Hillier - A roofer working in slate
Holster - Groom who looked after horses
Hooper - Made hoops for barrels
Horner - Works with horn for spoons or combs
Hunter - Hunted
Joyner - A carpenter
Kellogg - A killer of hogs
Kempster - Wool comber
Knacker - Harness maker
Leach - A doctor
Linkerman, Linkman - A man who carried a "link" or a torch to guide people through city streets
Lister, Litster - Dyer
Lorimer - A maker of horse gear, made bridles
Machin, Macun - A stone worker
Mailer - Enameller
Marshal - In charge of horses, carts, wagons and barrels. Oversaw transporting of goods.
Mason - A brick, plaster or stone worker
Mercer - Works with cloth, sells cloth
Miller - Grinds grain
Miner - Worked in a mine
Minter - Makes coins
Naperer, Napier - Servant in charge of table linen
Naylor - A nail maker
Packer - Packs goods such as pickles or herring
Packman - Traveled around with goods for sale in a pack
Palmer - One who had been (or pretended to have been) to the Holy Land
Parker - Park caretaker
Pitman - Coal miner
Plowman - Farmer, a farm laborer
Plowwright - Maker or repairer of plows
Porter - Gatekeeper
Potter - Maker of metal or clay pots
Proctor - A steward
Redman - A thatcher (reed man)
Reeve - Supervised the lord's property, made sure work was done
Saddler - Makes saddles
Sawyer - A wood sawer
Shepard - Looked after the sheep
Sherman, Shearman - One who processed cloth
Shoemaker - Made shoes
Skinner - Prepares hides for tanning
Smith - A maker of things
Steward - One employed to oversee domestic concerns
Tailor, Taylor - Made clothes
Tanner - Tans leather
Thatcher, Thacker - One who covered roofs with straw or reeds
Tiller - Farmer
Tillman, Tillerman - Plowman
Tinker - Repaired pots and household items
Trapper - Caught animals for their fur
Trinder - A wheel maker
Walker - A fuller, trambled cloth
Ward - A watchman
Weaver - Wove cloth
Webber, Webster - Weaver
Whacker - Horse or oxen team driver
Wheeler - Made wheels
Wheelwright - Maker or repairer of wagon wheels
Whitster - One who bleached cloth
Woodward - Keeper of a forest
Wright - Builder or repairer

Well, that's all for now.