Origin
Butcher : 1: English: occupational name for a butcher or slaughterer from Middle English Anglo-Norman French bocher bouch(i)er bowcher (Old French bochier bouchier a derivative of bouc ‘ram’).2: Americanized form of Slovenian and Croatian Bučar (see Bucar).
Baack : North German: either from a shortened form of the ancient Germanic personal name Baldeke (a short form of any of the compound names with the first element bald ‘bold’ for example Baldewin) or from Middle Low German baec bake ‘pork bacon’ hence a metonymic occupational name for a butcher or pig farmer. See Back.
Bache : 1: German and English: variant of Bach 1 3.2: German: from a vernacular pet form of the personal name Bartholomaeus (see Bach 6 Bartholomew).3: East German: occupational name for a butcher from Middle High German bache ‘ham smoked slab of bacon’.4: French: from the feminine form of bac ‘tub trough’ (see Bac).5: Americanized form of Norwegian and Danish Bakke.
Back : 1: English (Devon Kent Sussex and Norfolk): from the Middle English personal name Bakke (Old English Bacca). It is of uncertain origin but may have been a byname in the same sense as 3.2: English: nickname from Middle English bakke ‘bat’ of uncertain application perhaps a nickname for a person with poor eyesight from the expression ‘blind as a bat’.3: English: from Middle English bakke ‘back’ (Old English bæc) hence a nickname for someone with a hunched back or some other noticeable peculiarity of the back or spine or a topographic name for someone who lived on a hill or ridge or at the rear of a settlement.4: Americanized form of German Bach 1 2 or 6.5: German (Bäck): variant of Beck.6: North German and Dutch: from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch back ‘trough tub bin’ hence a metonymic occupational name for someone who made or used such artefacts.7: Dutch and North German: perhaps also a derivative of baa(c)k ‘pig; bacon ham’ hence a nickname for a butcher or a pig farmer.8: Dutch: topographic name for someone who lived at the back of somewhere such as a village a main street or a manor house from a phrase such as van de back or from Bak- ‘back’ as a bound form.9: Dutch: from the medieval personal name Ba(c)k(e) which could be a short form of several ancient Germanic personal names beginning with Bald- ‘bold’ Bade- ‘envoy’ or Bag- ‘up in arms’.10: Dutch: in some cases also a derivative of Backer ‘baker and perhaps also a nickname for someone with a hunched back as in the English name in 3 above.11: Swedish (Bäck): topographic or ornamental name from bäck ‘small stream or brook’ or a habitational name from a place called Bäck or from a placename containing the word bäck. Compare Beck.12: Swedish: variant of Backe.13: Americanized form of Norwegian Bakk (see Bakke).
Bank : 1: German Dutch and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German or Middle Low German banc or Yiddish bank ‘bench table counter’ in any of various senses e.g. a metonymic occupational name for anyone whose work required a bench or counter for example a butcher baker court official or money changer. The surname of German is also found in Poland and in Czechia.2: Danish and Swedish: topographic name from bank ‘(sand)bank’ or a habitational name from a farm named with this word.3: Danish and Swedish: from bank ‘noise’ hence a nickname for a loud or noisy person. Compare Bang.4: Danish: habitational name from the German placename Bänkau.5: English: topographic name from Middle English banke (Old Norse banke) ‘bank hillside’ or a habitational name from any of the many places so called.6: Irish: adopted for Ó Bruacháin ‘descendant of Bruachán’ a byname apparently meaning ‘large-bellied’. This name has also been Anglicized as Banks as if from Irish bruach ‘bank’.7: Dutch: from the personal name Bank recorded in North Holland province a vernacular of Bancras from Pancratius (see Pankratz).8: Hungarian (Bánk): from a diminutive of Bán (see Ban).
Bannister : English (of Norman origin): from Old French banaste banastre ‘covering for a cart or wagon; basket’ i.e. a large wicker container. In the 12th century a Norman family of this name had estates in Orne Normandy and in England. Ricardus Banastre appears in charters relating to the Earls of Chester c. 1120–29. With what sense the Norman surname was acquired is unknown. It can hardly have been occupational contrary to Reaney's view that it denoted a basket maker. It is possible that many or even all of the later bearers of the surname were descended from this knightly family. However several men with this surname in the 14th-century Poll Tax Returns are described as servants or agricultural laborers while Ricardus Banastr' recorded in 1381 was a butcher. It is conceivable that these men took their name from Middle English banastre a borrowing of the French word and that it referred to a basket or hamper they used in their work. Alternatively they may have belonged to branches of the knightly family that had fallen in the social scale. The term denoting a stair rail is unconnected with this name; it was not used before the 17th century.
Bard : 1: English (of Norman origin) and French: from the Old French personal name Bard(e) ancient Germanic Bardo from barta ‘battle axe’. This was borne as a surname by a prominent Norman family with lands in west Normandy and in various English and Scottish counties including Essex Hertfordshire North Yorkshire Northumberland and Lanarkshire. In Scotland the original family were Norman landowners in Strathaven parish in Lanarkshire. They were descended from the Baards lords of Loftus in the North Yorkshire descendants of the mid 12th-century Richard Baart.2: Irish: altered form of either Beard or Baird.3: Scottish: from Gaelic bàrd ‘poet minstrel’. See Baird.4: French: nickname from Old French baard ‘sedan chair; stretcher’ probably denoting the owner of such a device.5: French: from Old French bart (from Late Latin barrum) ‘mud clay (used as a mortar)’ probably applied as a metonymic occupational name for a bricklayer.6: French: habitational name from any of several minor places called Bard from the Gaulish element barro ‘height hill’.7: Hungarian (Bárd): metonymic occupational name for a butcher woodcutter or carpenter from bárd ‘hatchet cleaver’.8: Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with a luxurious beard from a blend of German Bart and Yiddish bord both meaning ‘beard’.9: Probably also an altered form of German Bart.
Been : 1: Dutch: nickname from been ‘leg’ probably denoting a cripple.2: Dutch: occupational name for a butcher either metonymic from been ‘bone’ or shortened from beenhouwer ‘butcher’.3: Dutch: from a short form of any of various ancient Germanic personal names beginning with the element Bern- ‘bear’ as for example Bernhard.4: English: variant of Bean.
Bijl : Dutch:: 1: from the female personal name Bijl a short form of Amabilia (see Mabile) or Sibilia (see Sibley).2: metonymic occupational name for a maker of axes or adzes or for someone who professionally used an axe for instance a carpenter or butcher from bijl ‘axe adze’. Compare Byl and Byle.
Bodeau : 1: French: variant of Bodel a metonymic occupational name for a tripe butcher from Old French boel ‘gut’.2: Altered form of French Beaudoin. Compare Bodoh.
Bodger : variant of Butcher (Middle English bocher ‘butcher’) with voicing of the intervocalic consonant. Compare Willmi Butcher 1577 Barnard Botcher 1601 Jonathan Bodger 1643 in IGI (Sutton Cambs).alternatively from Middle English bocchere ‘bodger someone who mends or patches (metal) things’ with the same irregular voicing of the consonant. Compare Adam Bochecollok ‘mend tub’ 1326 in Patent Rolls. Some of the medieval instances of Bocher(e) may represent this sense rather than that in (i) but it is difficult to be sure on formal grounds alone.
Bolas : English:: 1: habitational name from Bolas Magna in Shropshire or from Little Bolas in Hodnet (also in Shropshire) which is recorded as Parva Boulewas in 1342. The placenames probably have Old English wæsse ‘wet place marsh’ as the final element; the origin of the first element is uncertain; it may be from a diminutive of Old English boga ‘bow arch bend’.2: alternatively perhaps a metonymic occupational name for a butcher from Old Norse bol-ǫx ‘poleaxe’.
Bonecutter : Americanized form (translation into English) of German Knochenhauer an occupational name for a butcher.
Boucher : 1: French: occupational name for a butcher or slaughterer from Old French bouchier a derivative of bouc ‘ram’. Compare Bouche 2 Bouchey Bouchie Boushey Boushie Bush 5 Busha 1 Busher and Bushey 3.2: English: variant of Butcher a cognate of 1 above.
Bouchier : 1: occasional variant of Butcher as illustrated by Joan Butcher 1677 Henry Bouchier 1735 in IGI (Hope Mansell Herefs). But Butcher here may itself be a variant of Butchard. 2: possibly a variant of Bourchier (2).
Bucceri : Italian (Sicily): from the plural form of Buccero an occupational name for a butcher or slaughterman Sicilian dialect bbuccero from French boucher.
Buscher : 1: North German (also Büscher): topographic name for someone who lived near a copse from Middle Low German busch ‘copse’ (see Busch) + the locative suffix -er or a habitational name from any of various places called with this word.2: North German: occupational name for a butcher from Middle Low German buscher ‘non-guild butcher and meat retailer’.3: Dutch: variant of Busscher ‘lumberjack’. Compare Busker.
Butchard : from the Old French personal name Burchard Buchard (Continental Germanic Burghard from elements meaning ‘fortress’ and ‘hard bold’). The name rarely occurs in its original form (see Burchard) but more commonly as B(o)uchard and Bochard with dissimilative loss of the first -r-. It may also survive as Burkitt and Burchett.perhaps in some instances a variant of Butcher with excrescent -d but it is more likely that some example of Butcher are altered forms by folk etymology of Butchard.
Caflisch : Swiss German: possibly from a shortened form of Kalbfleisch literally ‘calf meat’ hence a metonymic occupational name for a butcher who sold mainly veal or a nickname for a young immature ‘half-baked’ person (compare Kalbfleisch). According to the Schweizer Idiotikon veal was regarded as meat of inferior quality.
Carroll : 1: Irish: shortened Anglicized form of Ó Cearbhaill or Mac Cearbhaill ‘descendant (or son) of Cearbhall’ a personal name perhaps based on cearbh ‘hacking’ and hence originally a byname for a butcher or a fierce warrior.2: English and Scottish: variant of Carrell.
Chaudoir : French: from a shortened form of échaudoir ‘scalding vat’ a metonymic occupational name for a butcher. This surname is very rare in France.
Ciccia : Italian:: 1: feminine of Ciccio.2: from ciccia ‘flesh’ ‘meat’ applied as a nickname for a fat person or as a metonymic occupational name for a butcher.
Cleaver : 1: English (South Midlands and Oxfordshire): from Middle English clevere ‘one who cleaves’ (a derivative of Old English clēofan ‘to split’) hence an occupational name for someone who split wood into planks using a wedge rather than a saw or possibly for a butcher. Alternatively on occasion possibly a topographic name from Middle English cleve ‘bank slope’ (from the dative of Old English clif) + the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant.2: Americanized form of German and Dutch Klever and perhaps also of German Kliewer.
Crossman : 1: English (Somerset and Devon): topographic name for someone who lived by a cross from Middle English cros cros(s)e + man.2: Americanized form of German Crössmann or Krössmann: from Middle Low German krōs krüs ‘pitcher’ and hence a metonymic occupational name for maker of these; alternatively a metonymic occupational name for a butcher from Middle High German kroese ‘tripe’.3: Americanized form of German Grossmann.
Fleisch : German: metonymic occupational name for a butcher from Middle High German fleisch vleisch ‘flesh meat’.
Fleischer : German Danish Norwegian and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a butcher from Fleisch ‘flesh meat’ + the agent suffix -er.
Fleischhacker : German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a butcher from German Fleisch ‘flesh meat’ + an agent derivative of hacken ‘to chop or cut’.
Fleischhauer : German: occupational name for a butcher from Middle High German fleisch vleisch ‘flesh meat’ + an agent derivative of Middle High German houwen ‘to cut’.
Fleischmann : German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a butcher literally ‘meatman’ from Middle High German fleisch ‘flesh meat’ + man ‘man’.
Flesh : from Middle English fles(c)h ‘meat’ (Old English flǣsc) for a butcher. Compare Flesher.
Flesher : 1: English: occupational name for a butcher from Middle English fles(c)her flesho(u)r ‘butcher’ an agent derivative of flesh ‘meat’ or from Middle English fleshheuer fleshewer ‘butcher’ a compound of flesh ‘meat’ + heuer ‘cutter’. This surname has sometimes been confused with Fletcher.2: Americanized form of German Fleischer.
Fraise : 1: American shortened and altered form of German Henrichfreise composed of the personal name Henrich a variant of Heinrich and Freise.2: French: probably from fraise ‘calf's caul’ used as a metonymic occupational name for a tripe butcher.
Giza : Polish (also Giża): nickname from Old Polish and dialect giża giza ‘hind leg of an ox or swine’ possibly applied as a metonymic occupational name for a butcher.
Griebe : German: occupational name for a butcher or fat dealer from Middle High German griebe griube ‘rendered bacon pieces crackling’.
Hack : 1: German and Dutch: from the ancient Germanic personal name Hac(c)o a short form of a compound name beginning with the element hag ‘hedge enclosure’.2: German and Dutch: occupational name for a butcher or a woodcutter (see Hacker).3: North German: occupational name for a peddler (see Haack 3).4: North German: topographic name for someone who lived by a hedge (see Heck 1).5: North German: perhaps also a topographic name from hach hack ‘dirty boggy water’.6: English: from the early Middle English personal name Acke or (with prosthetic H-) Hake which is an Anglo-Scandinavian pet form of Old Scandinavian Áskell (see Haskell).7: English: alternatively a borrowing of Middle Dutch Hakke a de-nasalized variant of Hanke which is a Flemish and Picard pet form of John.8: English: nickname from Middle English hak ‘unsparing ruthless’.9: Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name from Yiddish hak ‘axe’.
Hackel : 1: German (also Häckel): from a diminutive of Hack 2 an occupational name for a butcher or a woodcutter.2: German (Häckel): occupational name for a peddler a diminutive of Hack 3.3: South German (Swabia; Häckel): nickname for a keeper of the breeding boar in a village; a crude person.
Hacker : 1: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) (also Häcker); Dutch: occupational name for a butcher or a woodcutter from an agent derivative of Middle High German hacken Dutch hakken ‘to hack to chop’. The Jewish surname may be from Yiddish heker ‘butcher’ holtsheker ‘woodcutter’ (German Holzhacker) or valdheker ‘lumberjack’ or from German Hacker ‘woodchopper’. Compare Haecker.2: English (southwestern): from an agent derivative of Middle English hacken ‘to hack’ hence an occupational name for a woodcutter or perhaps a maker of hacks (hakkes) a word used in Middle English to denote a variety of agricultural tools such as mattocks and hoes.
Hackmann : 1: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a butcher or a woodcutter (see Hacker 1).2: North German: variant of Haack ‘peddler hawker’.
Hauer : German: literally ‘cutter’ or ‘chopper’ Middle High German houwer (an agent derivative of houwen ‘to chop’) an occupational name for a woodcutter a butcher or a stonemason.
Haumann : German: probably a variant of Hau 7 a settler on a Hau when these units were changed to agricultural land; or an occupational name for a butcher a woodcutter or a stonemason from Middle High German houwen ‘to chop’ + man ‘man’. Compare Hauer.
Heckerman : Americanized form of German Häckermann: occupational name for a butcher or woodcutter an elaborated form of Häcker (see Hacker).
Hogsflesh : from Middle English hog(ge) ‘hog pig’ + flesh fles flech ‘flesh’ (Old English hogg + flǣsc). Perhaps it was given to someone who was as fat as a pig or to a pork butcher.
Kaelber : German (Kälber): metonymic occupational name for someone who raised calves also for a butcher from Middle High German kalp (plural kelber) ‘calf’.
Kalb : German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German kalp ‘calf’ German Kalb hence either a metonymic occupational name for someone who reared calves or for a butcher or a nickname for a meek or foolish person.
Kalbfleisch : German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): literally ‘calf meat’ hence a metonymic occupational name for a butcher who sold mainly veal or a nickname for a young immature ‘half-baked’ person. See also Caflisch compare Colflesh.
Kalp : German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German kalp ‘calf’ German Kalb probably applied as a metonymic occupational name for someone who reared calves or for a butcher (see Kalb).
Kassabian : Armenian: patronymic from an occupational name for a butcher from Turkish kasap (accusative case kasabı) from Arabic qaṣṣāb ‘butcher’. This form of the surname is found mainly in the US and Lebanon. Compare Kasabian.
Klipfel : German: from Middle High German klüpfel klöpfel klüppel ‘mallet cudgel clapper (of a bell)’ hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of cudgels and mallets or clappers for bells or a metonymic occupational name for a butcher a stone-breaker. This name also became established in Greece by followers of King Otto of Bavarian origin.
Knaack : North German: from Low German knaak ‘bone’ hence a metonymic occupational name for a butcher or possibly for a knacker or a nickname for a bony thin or a crude person. Compare South German Knoch.
Knatchbull : from Middle English knetchen ‘to knock (on the head) fell’ (a variant of knacken ‘to strike’) + bole ‘bull’ hence ‘knock bull’ probably referring to a butcher or slaughterer (a knacker).
Knoche : German: from Middle High German knoche ‘bone’ also ‘knot (on a tree) snag (on a tree)’ applied as a metonymic occupational name for a butcher or possibly for a knacker or a nickname for a bony stocky or crude person. Compare North German Knaack.
Knochenhauer : German: occupational name for a butcher (see Knoche and Hauer). Compare Bonecutter.
Kobylarz : Polish: occupational name for a horse butcher Polish kobylarz ‘horse butcher knacker’.
Kottler : 1: German: variant of Köttler itself a variant of Kötter (see Koetter).2: North German: occupational name for a butcher from Middle Low German koteler ‘preparer of entrails’ (compare Kuttler).3: Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Kotler.
Kuter : 1: German (Küter): occupational name for a butcher or sausage maker from Middle High German Middle Low German kuter ‘butcher’ (from kut ‘entrails tripe’).2: Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): unexplained.
Kuttler : German (also Küttler) and Swiss German: occupational name for a butcher who prepared and sold offal for making into sausage meat Middle High German kuteler. This surname is also found in France (Alsace). Compare Kutler.
Leber : 1: German: from a variant of the medieval personal names L(i)ebher (see Lieber) and L(i)ebert (see Liebhart).2: German: nickname for a butcher from Middle High German leber ‘liver’. This surname is also found in France (Alsace and Lorraine).3: German: topographic name from Middle High German lē (genitive lēwes) ‘hill’.4: North German: from Middle Low German lēbar(e) ‘leopard’ (see Lebert).5: Dutch: of German origin (see above).6: Breton (mainly Le Ber): nickname denoting a short man from berr ‘short’ with the French masculine definite article le.7: Slovenian: of Middle High German origin (see above) or a variant of Lebar. Compare Levar and Lever.
Levar : 1: Slovenian: perhaps from a Slovenized form of Middle High German leber ‘liver’ or lewer ‘hill’ thus a nickname for a butcher or a topographic name for someone who lived on a hill. Compare Leber and Lever.2: Croatian: unexplained.
Marraccini : Italian (Tuscany): from a diminutive of Tuscan dialect marraccio ‘cleaver’ hence possibly a metonymic occupational name for a butcher.
Marrazzo : Italian:: 1: probably from a pejorative form of Marra.2: from the Calabrian dialect word marrazzu ‘butcher's knife’ presumably a metonymic occupational name for a butcher.
Mazzanti : Italian: from a derivative of Mazza possibly denoting a butcher or slaughterer.
Menaker : Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name from a Hebrew word for a butcher who removed veins for koshering meat.
Mesaros : 1: Serbian Croatian and Rusyn (from Vojvodina in Serbia) (Mesaroš): occupational name for a butcher or nickname for a meat eater from dialect (colloquial) mesaroš ‘butcher’ figuratively ‘meat eater’ a loanword from Hungarian mészáros (see Meszaros) itself a word derived from South Slavic mesar ‘butcher’.2: Slovak (mainly Mesároš and Mésároš also Mésaroš and Mesaroš) and Rusyn (from Slovakia; Mesaroš): occupational name for a butcher of Hungarian origin (see Meszaros compare below and above).3: Americanized form of Hungarian Mészáros ‘butcher’ (see Meszaros). Compare Messaros.
Meszaros : Hungarian (Mészáros): occupational name for a butcher from mészáros a loanword from South Slavic mesar an agent noun from meso ‘meat’. Compare Mesaros and Messaros.
Metzger : South German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a butcher from Middle High German metziger metzjer German Metzger (probably deriving from Old French macecrier ‘butcher’).
Metzler : German (mainly Middle Rhine): occupational name for a butcher Middle High German metzeler from Latin macellarius ‘dealer in meat’ from macellum ‘stall (at a market) meat market’. This surname is also found in France (Alsace and Lorraine).
Metzner : 1: German (Silesia Saxony Bavaria and Austria): from Middle High German metze a small dry-measure for grain or flour hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of measures or for a miller's assistant (who measured the quantity of flour due to the miller as payment in kind).2: South German: occupational name for a butcher from an agent derivative of Middle High German metzjen metzigen ‘to butcher’.3: German: habitational name for someone from Metzen in Lower Bavaria.
Mincer : 1: Jewish (from Poland): Polish-influenced variant of Mintzer ‘moneyer’.2: English: perhaps a metonymic occupational name for a butcher a cook or a warrior from a derivative of Middle English mince(n) ‘to mince to cut into small pieces’.
Prochazka : Czech (Procházka): from an agent derivative of Czech procházet ‘to walk or wander’; an occupational name for an itinerant tradesman especially a traveling butcher. It could also be a nickname for an idle person from the same word in the sense of one who sauntered around idly. This surname is also found in Slovakia.
Render : 1: English (Yorkshire): occupational name from a shortened form of Middle English renderer renderour a derivative of Middle English renden ‘to tear lacerate butcher (a carcass)’ probably denoting a butcher.2: German: probably a habitational name for someone from Renda in Hesse.
Reznik : 1: Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): occupational name for a Jewish ritual slaughterer from Yiddish reznik (of Slavic origin; compare below). Compare Reznick Resnick and Resnik.2: Czech (Řezník) and Slovak (Rezník): from Czech řezník Slovak archaic (of Czech origin) rezník an occupational name for a butcher. Compare Resnick and Reznick.
Rind : 1: Scottish: habitational name from Rhynd (Perthshire) or either of two places of that name in Leuchars and Saline parishes (Fife). The placenames probably derive from Gaelic rinn ‘point of land’. Compare Rynd.2: English: unexplained.3: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a cattle dealer or butcher from Middle High German rint ‘cow’ German Rind Yiddish rind ‘head of cattle’. As a Jewish name it can also be artificial.4: Norwegian: variant of Rinde.
Rindfleisch : German: metonymic occupational name or nickname for a butcher from Middle High German rintvleisch ‘beef’.
Sain : 1: Americanized form of German Zirn which is a variant of Zürn (see Zurn). Compare Saine Sane and Sayne.2: Croatian and Serbian (Šain): metonymic occupational name for a hawker or a nickname from ša(h)in ‘falcon hawk (trained for hunting)’ a word of Turkish and ultimately Persian origin (see Sahin). Compare Shain and Shine.3: Americanized form of Slovenian and Croatian Šajn: nickname from šajn an obsolete loanword from German meaning ‘shine’ or a Slavicized form of German Schein. As a Croatian surname it may also be a variant of Šain (see 2 above). Compare Shain and Shine.4: Spanish: nickname from saín ‘fat’.5: Portuguese and Galician: habitational name from Saim in Portugal or Zaín in Galicia.6: French (Saïn): metonymic occupational name for a pork butcher from Old French sain ‘lard’.7: Indian: variant of Shahin and Sahin.
Sayen : 1: Altered form of French Séguin (see Seguin).2: French (mainly Ardennes): metonymic occupational name for a pork butcher from Old French sain ‘lard’.
Scannapieco : Italian (Naples): occupational name for an itinerant butcher scannapiecure a compound of scanna ‘to butcher’ + piecuro ‘sheep lamb’.
Schenkel : German Dutch and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a butcher or a nickname for someone with long or otherwise notable legs from Middle High German schenkel Middle Dutch schenkel schinkel ‘thigh lower leg’ German Schenkel ‘thigh’.
Schink : German:: 1: nickname for someone with long or otherwise remarkable legs from Middle High German Middle Low German schinke ‘thigh leg’. Compare Schenkel.2: metonymic occupational name for a butcher from Middle High German Middle Low German schinke ‘ham’.
Schrandt : North German: probably a variant of Schrage an occupational name for a butcher or baker selling at a stall in a market from Middle High German schrande schrange ‘market stall table counter’.
Slager : 1: Dutch: occupational name for a butcher slager. Compare Slagter.2: Americanized form of German Schläger or Schlager.
Slagter : Dutch: occupational name for a butcher Dutch slagter slachter. Compare Slager.
Slater : English:: 1: from Middle English sclat(t)er an occupational name for someone who lays slates or sandstone flags on roofs or who manages a quarry from which slates or flagstones were excavated. See also Slate.2: occupational name for a butcher from Middle English sleght a variant of slaught ‘slaughter butchery’ (Old English -slæht ‘blow stroke’) + the agent suffix -ere. Middle English Sleyghtere has only been found in Essex and is formally related to the synonymous occupational name Slaughter.3: in Sussex and adjacent counties Slater and Slatter are probably post-medieval pronunciations of Slaughter; there seems to be no medieval evidence in the southern coast counties for the occupational name Slater in 1 above.
Speck : 1: German: from Middle High German spec ‘bacon’ hence a metonymic occupational name for a seller of bacon or a pork butcher or a nickname for a fat person.2: German: topographic name from Middle High German speck(e) ‘log bridge or road’.3: German: habitational name from any of the places called Speck Specke or Specken.4: English: variant of Speake.5: English: perhaps a variant of Peck with a prosthetic S-.
Spick : from Middle English spik(e) spic(e) ‘spike’ denoting a metal spike or type of large nail for someone who made sold or used such items or for someone who resembled a spike i.e. a tall thin man. See also Spiking and compare Godfrey Spicenail 1307–8 in Jönsjö Nicknames.from Middle English spic spik spiche ‘fat meat or bacon; lard animal fat’ (Old English spic) perhaps for a butcher or for a rotund person. Compare William Spichfat 1200 in Pipe Rolls (Notts) ‘bacon fat’.
Spike : English (Warwickshire):: 1: from Middle English spik(e) spic(e) ‘spike’ denoting a metal spike or type of large nail used for someone who made sold or used such items or as a nickname for someone who resembled a spike i.e. a tall thin man.2: nickname perhaps for a butcher or for a rotund person from Middle English spic spik spiche ‘fat meat or bacon; lard animal fat’ (Old English spic).
Sticker : 1: German: occupational name for an embroiderer (see Seidensticker).2: German: occupational name for a worker who shapes and sets stakes vineyards from Middle High German stickel ‘pointed stick post’.3: English (Middlesex): occupational name from an agent derivative of Middle English stikke ‘stick twig wooden rod’ (Old English sticca) for someone who gathered firewood. In Clarendon Park persons called ‘stikkers’ were appointed ‘to go about in the said park and gather dry underwood’.4: English (Middlesex): occupational name from an agent derivative of Middle English stike(n) ‘(to) stab thrust pierce kill with a knife’ (Old English stician) perhaps for a butcher.5: English (Middlesex): nickname for someone who hunted or butchered hares from Middle English stike(n) ‘(to) kill with a knife’ (Old English stician) + hare ‘hare’ (Old English hara).
Sunseri : Italian (Sicily): occupational name for a pork butcher or renderer of lard from Sicilian sunza ‘pork fat’ (medieval Latin sungia) + the occupational suffix -eri.
Tabak : 1: Jewish (Ashkenazic) and Polish; Slovak (also Tabák): metonymic occupational name for a tobacco merchant from German Tabak Polish dialect and Slovak tabak (all ultimately from Spanish tabaco a word of Caribbean origin). Tobacco was introduced to Europe in the 16th century.2: Dutch: occupational name for a butcher or hog breeder from Middle Dutch tucbake from tucken ‘to pull to push to strike’ + bake ‘hog’.3: Turkish Bosniak and Croatian: occupational name for a tanner from Turkish tabak which is also a loanword in Bosnian and Croatian. Compare Toback.
Trenchard : English (southwestern; of Norman origin) and French: nickname from Old French trenche a derivative of trenchier ‘to cut hack slice’ (compare Trench) + the suffix -ard for someone skilled in cutting perhaps for a swordsman butcher or ditch-cutter.
Vago : Hungarian (Vágó): occupational name for a wood- or stonecutter or butcher from vágni ‘to cut’.
Wiltbank : Dutch: probably an occupational name for a butcher from Middle Dutch wilt ‘game’ + banc ‘bench on which butchers cut their meat’.
Wurst : German: from Middle High German wurst ‘sausage’ (a collective noun) hence either a metonymic occupational name for a butcher who specialized in the production of sausages or a nickname for a plump person or someone who was particularly fond of sausages.
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
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