What's In a Name?

Rub-a-dub-dub, Three men in a tub,
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker,

And all of them out to sea.

 

Pop-quiz! What do James Booker, Karen Carpenter, John Constable, Noel Coward, James Dean, William Faulkner, Carrie Fisher, George Foreman, Danny Glover, Stephen Hawking, Susan Hayward, Gustav Mahler, Harry Potter, Adam Sandler, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, James Taylor and  J.M.W. Turner all have in common?

 

Take a moment before reading on and see if you can guess. 

 

Got it? 

 

Buzzzz! Time’s up. They all have surnames that come from professions. Most of English origin, a few above from German. For some reason, I started obsessing about this and examples running through my mind woke me up far too early. I made a pretty good list on my own and then supplemented it with some simple online research. Here it is. See if your name or a friend’s or a famous person you might know is on here:

 

Baker, Barber, Butcher, Booker, Brewer, Butler, Carpenter, Constable, Cook, Cooper, Dean, Duke, Dyer, Fisher, Foreman, Gardner, Goldsmith, Harper, Hunter, Hooper, Merchant, Miller, Miner, Painter, Piper, Planter, Porter, Potter, Schubert/Schumann/Shoemaker, Shepard, Smith, Spicer, Tanner, Taylor, Warden, Waterman, Weaver, Wheeler. 

 

Most of the above are fairly self-explanatory, but there’s a whole other list that needs a little explanation. 

 

Chandler, (candle-maker), Carter (wagon driver), Cartwright (wagon-maker), Coward (from cow-herd, one who herds cows), Faulkner (falconer), Fletcher (feathers on arrows), Forester/Forster/ Foster (scissors-makers), Glazer (glass-worker), Glover (glove-maker), Grover (tends to trees), Hawking (falconer), Hayward (fence-keeper), Mahler (maker of stained glass windows), Sandler (sandal-maker), Turner (lathe-worker), Walker (Waulker—one who finishes newly woven tweed). 

 

Like the days of the week or the months of the year, we seldom inquire where words and names come from, but I, for one, find it fascinating. 

 

And now I—and you — can get on with the day.