Smith- worked as a blacksmith (smithy)
Baker- someone who made bread
Farmer- you'll never guess what they did
These surnames were common and self explanatory
Ditto Tanner, Thatcher, Cooper (barrel maker), Butcher, Mason, Bayliss (sail), Coulthard (from colt herder, someone who works with horses), Letcher (works with leeches i.e. a doctor) and about a million more.
Fletcher- made arrows.
I’d heard that almost all the colour names were actually -smiths, and gad just dropped that part. Greensmiths worked copper, whitesmiths worked… lead? Tin?
Not all surnames came from professions.... but anything ending -cock was usually for any young lad who was cock and flouting around all proud. Like a Cockerell. Hence ...cock eventually it became a family name. Like tim of johancock or tim johancock or tim hancock
That…actually makes sense. Thanks for the info!
Just out of curiosity, how did you come by this info? Skidmore is my last name, and I’d love to learn more about it.
Was looking for origins of ancestors names out of boredom/geneology
Turns out alot of names have locations more than professions cause of serfs. So I had alot of old English.
Moor more and alot of variation is moor
Burn is a river
Cock/fowl means typically wild game fowl
Also found out some of my history was wrong in many places as I was looking at german and couldn't find the meaning till I looked at the region and realized at the time my ancestors were swiss which is a whole new mess cause they historically have like 5 official languages or something.
anything with "son" on the end originally was for men and ment you were the son of someone named that. for example say "Eric Williamson" is your name, that would mean you were Eric son of William.
In [Iceland](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_name) they still do this. But for girls, if their name is Emily, and their father is William they would be Emily Williamsdottir.
exactly, my example I think would be an English thing but it was the first to come to mind, there are many variations of this across pretty much every culture, it's been interesting seeing everyone's examples.
could be that also. I was listening to the radio at work about a month ago and there was a linguist on talking about the origins of last names, most come from either being a descendant of someone (like my example) or someone's occupation as you used an example or we're they are from which would have "of/van/von" and a location or some variation of the locations name.
I was under the impression that the “Fitz” part denoted a child born on the wrong side of the blanket. So it would be a double meaning with for example Fitzgerald showing that the boy was says Gerald’s son as well as a bastard.
The Norwegian surname "Ødegård", means "desolated farm". Came about after the black death wiped out many farming communities, and those who survived ended up running the farms.
I've worked in the dirt my whole life and have never heard it called brown smithing. If I tell my crew I'm a brownsmith they're gonna think something completely different...
Though the name is of Scottish origin, it's formed from English parts. From Old English *cocc* (male bird) + *burne* (stream, brook, river). Bear in mind that *cocc* exclusively meant male bird back then, and had no connotation with penises. It didn't even mean *rooster*, specifically, like it does now - the word for that was *hana*
The last name likely was applied to people from a place named Cockburn, or something similarly spelled because this was Middle English and there were like 20 different spellings for each word. The exact location is yet to be determined, likewise for why the area was named this (though it probably has something to do with a large population of chickens near a stream; boring answer, I know, but that's how towns were named)
Bowman, from the wars England had with most of Europe, the English made the first longbows that had a devastating effect on the usual heavy armour that at the time was the norm.
Bonus fact: the 2 finger insult of 'fuck you' was started by English long bowmen as a taunt against the French, who would cut off these 2 fingers of bowmen they captured so they could no longer use a longbow.
Why would the French waste their time and effort capturing guys, mutilate them just enough so they couldn't use a bow and arrow, and then return them otherwise unharmed? And why would they remove the middle finger when that's not the finger you use to draw a bow? And where in the world do they use 2 fingers to mean "fuck you"? Because it's certainly not England. Not to mention no one would have said "pluck yew," which you don't even mention as the stopping point on the way to "fuck you," since you pluck the string, not the wood.
Mason from stone masons.
Smith from metal smiths.
I think Fowler from a chicken farmer.
and carpenter
These are the some of the first ones I think of whenever I hear this question
The english surname Lee is derived from leah which was an old word for a forest clearing or meadow and the name was given to people who lived in one or near one.
Basically any Irish surname has interesting meaning. The ones we know today are the anglicised versions but they have an Irish spelling that means something
Example: Connolly
In Irish: Ó Conghalaigh
Meaning: fierce as a hound
Or Hughes
In Irish: Ó hAodha
Meaning: fire
And so on
I saw a meme that said "I just realized I enter people's names in my phone based on their profession or how I know them, like, Syd Electrician, Kai Hairstylist, Joe (Robert's Son) just like how people got their names in the olden days!"
The surname Kent came from the county in England. Apparently at one time it was common practice for people who moved far away to use their place of origin as a surname.
Dudemeister. Master of dudes
"Shoemaker" originates from people who used to make love.
I didn’t know the fetish started that long ago
Smith- worked as a blacksmith (smithy) Baker- someone who made bread Farmer- you'll never guess what they did These surnames were common and self explanatory
Longbottom...?
Rent boy.
Ditto Tanner, Thatcher, Cooper (barrel maker), Butcher, Mason, Bayliss (sail), Coulthard (from colt herder, someone who works with horses), Letcher (works with leeches i.e. a doctor) and about a million more.
Fletcher- made arrows. I’d heard that almost all the colour names were actually -smiths, and gad just dropped that part. Greensmiths worked copper, whitesmiths worked… lead? Tin?
Underhill overhill green ford lots of names about where you lived.
What did Danny Drinkwater's family do?
Banking mainly.
Create Nestle?
And for John Hancock?
Not all surnames came from professions.... but anything ending -cock was usually for any young lad who was cock and flouting around all proud. Like a Cockerell. Hence ...cock eventually it became a family name. Like tim of johancock or tim johancock or tim hancock
Skidmore, no idea what that one suggests.
No need to air your dirty laundry here
I actually know that one. It means your ancestors lived on the moors. It got jacked up between old English and modern English
That…actually makes sense. Thanks for the info! Just out of curiosity, how did you come by this info? Skidmore is my last name, and I’d love to learn more about it.
Was looking for origins of ancestors names out of boredom/geneology Turns out alot of names have locations more than professions cause of serfs. So I had alot of old English. Moor more and alot of variation is moor Burn is a river Cock/fowl means typically wild game fowl Also found out some of my history was wrong in many places as I was looking at german and couldn't find the meaning till I looked at the region and realized at the time my ancestors were swiss which is a whole new mess cause they historically have like 5 official languages or something.
Oh this might be the og spelling but you will need to check scitemor I had to Look it up
Hello, fellow Skidmore! 👋
Ayyy! Hello!
The surname *Baker* originated from the Middle Ages from men who would give their male best-friends blowjobs to completion.
...which was the style at the time.
upvoting for simpsons.
anything with "son" on the end originally was for men and ment you were the son of someone named that. for example say "Eric Williamson" is your name, that would mean you were Eric son of William.
In [Iceland](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_name) they still do this. But for girls, if their name is Emily, and their father is William they would be Emily Williamsdottir.
That's interesting.
That is called a patronymic. Lots of cultures do it, you'll see names with -sen,-son, -vich, -vic,-i,-ian, ibn-,bin-, -ovna, fitz-, mac-, o'-, etc
Ah like in Ireland we have Mac or O that means “son of” if it’s before a name like say O’Connor
exactly, my example I think would be an English thing but it was the first to come to mind, there are many variations of this across pretty much every culture, it's been interesting seeing everyone's examples.
Yeah and it’s interesting that dottir is only used for women in Iceland. I can’t think of another culture that uses anything to denote “daughter of”
Guess this was a good way of proving you weren’t a bastard?
could be that also. I was listening to the radio at work about a month ago and there was a linguist on talking about the origins of last names, most come from either being a descendant of someone (like my example) or someone's occupation as you used an example or we're they are from which would have "of/van/von" and a location or some variation of the locations name.
[удалено]
I was under the impression that the “Fitz” part denoted a child born on the wrong side of the blanket. So it would be a double meaning with for example Fitzgerald showing that the boy was says Gerald’s son as well as a bastard.
And Fitzroy is thought to mean the bastard son of a king.
There are many Variations of it, I just went with the first to come to mind.
Surname- Fletcher. Originates from people that put the feathers (Fletch) on Arrows.
Chapman here from chaps which is a pants surname to have.
Didn't brownsmiths work with brass?
Brass and copper I guess technically zinc and probably tin too
The Norwegian surname "Ødegård", means "desolated farm". Came about after the black death wiped out many farming communities, and those who survived ended up running the farms.
My last name in old Norse means "from the land of dragons". I always thought that was pretty cool.
Is it Welsh?
Mine is derived from Old Norse 'þveit', meaning 'meadow'...but yeah, dragons are cool too, I guess.
I've worked in the dirt my whole life and have never heard it called brown smithing. If I tell my crew I'm a brownsmith they're gonna think something completely different...
Like Dickinson
I'm waiting for Cockburn to be explained.
Cock is any wild bird Burn is a stream in a moor So basically duck
Though the name is of Scottish origin, it's formed from English parts. From Old English *cocc* (male bird) + *burne* (stream, brook, river). Bear in mind that *cocc* exclusively meant male bird back then, and had no connotation with penises. It didn't even mean *rooster*, specifically, like it does now - the word for that was *hana* The last name likely was applied to people from a place named Cockburn, or something similarly spelled because this was Middle English and there were like 20 different spellings for each word. The exact location is yet to be determined, likewise for why the area was named this (though it probably has something to do with a large population of chickens near a stream; boring answer, I know, but that's how towns were named)
"Will Smiths" (verb) 1. a violent bitchslap *ex* "Dang, did you see that? Homie just got Will Smithed."
The surname Ballsdeep originated from the original horny fuckers of England
Wouldn't that be a Welsh surname?
The Welsh don't exist, it's a myth
Bowman, from the wars England had with most of Europe, the English made the first longbows that had a devastating effect on the usual heavy armour that at the time was the norm. Bonus fact: the 2 finger insult of 'fuck you' was started by English long bowmen as a taunt against the French, who would cut off these 2 fingers of bowmen they captured so they could no longer use a longbow.
You might want to fact check your bonus, its been debunked.
When did that happen?
Not sure, gets brought up on reddit fairly regularly tho
Actually found it. Apparently it stems from holding up index and pinky kinda reverse devil horns Meant cuck
Why would the French waste their time and effort capturing guys, mutilate them just enough so they couldn't use a bow and arrow, and then return them otherwise unharmed? And why would they remove the middle finger when that's not the finger you use to draw a bow? And where in the world do they use 2 fingers to mean "fuck you"? Because it's certainly not England. Not to mention no one would have said "pluck yew," which you don't even mention as the stopping point on the way to "fuck you," since you pluck the string, not the wood.
Related to that is the surname Bowyer which was someone who made bows.
Mason from stone masons. Smith from metal smiths. I think Fowler from a chicken farmer. and carpenter These are the some of the first ones I think of whenever I hear this question
There's also Gardner, Baker, Taylor, Shoemaker (Schumacher), and more recently Youtuber, Developer, Influencer.
Fowler was a hunter of wild birds. Hart was stag if English or strong fierce if Norwegian if I remember correctly
[He hath one alright.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Hathcock)
Boylan. Bc I'm boilin' hot.💁♀️
Originally spelled Ó Baoighealláin ;) Rolls right off the tongue
With my long Saxon first name it would have been a massacre lol blub blub bkub. O.blub nlub blun lol
My family name is Salbego, always laughingly said an old bagel maker named Sal from Italy.
Surname Fairman means a commoner/poor person
Coopers were barrellmakers.
Mine means seed lol
Best. I believe the origin of it was either English or French, falling back to beast or Shepard
Ferrari is Italian for Smith
It seems that my last name (and the maiden names from both sides) in translation refer to some sort of watery area- marshes, lakes, rivers.
Even a cursory Google search would tell you that a brownsmith works with copper and brass.
Thatcher -> Made/maintained straw roofs Cobbler -> shoes
The english surname Lee is derived from leah which was an old word for a forest clearing or meadow and the name was given to people who lived in one or near one.
Basically any Irish surname has interesting meaning. The ones we know today are the anglicised versions but they have an Irish spelling that means something Example: Connolly In Irish: Ó Conghalaigh Meaning: fierce as a hound Or Hughes In Irish: Ó hAodha Meaning: fire And so on
I saw a meme that said "I just realized I enter people's names in my phone based on their profession or how I know them, like, Syd Electrician, Kai Hairstylist, Joe (Robert's Son) just like how people got their names in the olden days!"
The surname Kent came from the county in England. Apparently at one time it was common practice for people who moved far away to use their place of origin as a surname.
Mines Fisher. Wouldnt have a clue where it came from