Coopers and Fletchers

The second largest law firm in the world is Baker & McKenzie. I'm sure Mr. Baker was quite proud of his accomplishment, especially given that the ancestor whose name he carried was a baker -- you know, a guy who baked things. Way back when a "dusty baker" was probably covered in flour.

The surnames I've always gotten a kick out of are the ones related to a trade or profession. Many end in "er", of course, meaning "the guys who does..." Some end in "ward", as in "the guy responsible for". A "wright" made things, while a "smith" made or refined stuff, especially metal.

Some obvious ones:

• Food and drink: Baker, Brewer, Butcher, Cook, Miller
• Clothing: Tailor (Taylor), Weaver/Webster, Shoemaker, Glover
• Housing and building: Thatcher, Carpenter, Sawyer ("the guy who saws"), Plumber, Bricker/Brickman, Mason, Waller
• Farm and Field: Farmer, Hayward, Gardener, Shepherd, Shearer, Parker (in charge of a game park), Woodward
• Transportation: Wagoner, Carter, and Porter all moved stuff around. They were dependent on the Wheelwright/Wheeler, Wagonwright (now Wainwright) and the Cartwright, any of these sometimes shortened to just Wright.
• Making music: Piper, Harper, Singer
• Gentry and clergy: Lord, Knight, Duke, Abbot, Bishop
• Craftsmen and tradesmen: Turner (lathe operator), Smith (often short for blacksmith), Goldsmith, Coppersmith, Potter, Tanner, Barber, Stringer, Roper
• Boating and seafaring: Keeler (bargeman), Fisher, Boatman, Waterman

The less obvious ones are the best:

• A Cooper was a barrel-maker, and a Hooper made the hoops for the barrels. They were buddies, I'm sure.
• Mr. Fletcher made arrows. His best customers were probably Mr. Archer, Mr. Bowman, and the guy who made the bows, Mr. Bowyer (now Boyer.)
• A Faulkner was in charge of falcons.
• Tucker, Fuller, and Walker were all names of people who cleaned and thickened cloth.
• Barker worked in tanning. Using tree bark in the process, I guess?
• A Dexter dyed cloth.
• Peterman was another name for Fisher.

Interesting, too, that there are feminine versions -- in English these end in "ster" or similar. So Brewster for Brewer, Baxter for Baker, etc. And another name for judge was Deemer, whose feminine form was Dempster.

It was the same in other European countries, of course, so Smith is Schmidt in German and Lefevre in French, while Miller is Molina in Spain and Molnar in Hungary.

Fun, huh? I think very few people who carry a profession or trade surname would want to go back to that line of work, in this day and age. Unless you wanted to make and sell knives instead of playing football. Eh, Mr. Cutler?

Pat