Occupation names

Some occupational names are now very common e.g. Smith, Baker, Taylor, Cook etc. This situation is not new, the same high frequency existed by 1300, and is due to the fact that these occupations were widespread but not over-numerous in any single community.

Notes:

• It can be difficult to decide if a name is occupational or topographical in origin e.g the surname Hall could mean either someone who lived at the Hall, or worked there
• The occupational name may have just been an ancillary trade- not the main one. It was this incidental occupation that served to distinguish from others of the same craft, and hence was used as a marking term
• In almost all cases, popular occupational surnames had a number of variations
• However, many low frequency occupational surnames never became hereditary, or died out soon afterwards. Even those that survived may now be rare e.g Spinner, Dring

McKinley’s warning: “There is often little connection between the importance of an occupation locally and the number of surnames derived from it.”

(HoBS p 203)

Tengvik’s rule of thumb

This states that occupational surnames were transformed into hereditary surnames by about 1350.

(Tengvik Middle English surnames of occupation.

But this seems to have varied greatly between different parts of England. An analysis of the West Riding Poll Tax returns of 1379 to 1381 reveals that 55% of the occupations had a concordance (eponymous with or a cognate) with the associated by-name. In the Midlands, the percentage concordance was much less.