Farming and Agricultural Surnames for your Fictional Characters - Part 1
Names can convey a lot about your character. And in today's list, I'm going to highlight some occupational surnames related to agriculture and farming.
Note: Due to the large number of surnames relating to this theme, this will be a multipart post. Today's focus will be on names of English origin.
Occupational surnames can be used literally (usually in historical fiction or fantasy) to convey your character's occupation or family trade. Or you can use the names to give your character a specific vibe or feeling.
Imagine a country singer named Jackson Barnes. Or a cottage core witch named Eloise Penn. Perhaps you need a name for your character's law firm. Tasker, Granger, and Bond sounds like the firm that will get the job done.
No matter how you plan on using the names, here are some farming and agricultural surnames and meanings to get you started.
Ackerman - Originally derived from Middle English aker, meaning "field" and man. Though the literal translation would be "field man", it came to mean "ploughman."
Barnes - Originally derived from Old English bere, meaning "barley," and ærn, meaning "dwelling". Often used for people who worked or lived in a barn.
Bond - Originally derived from the Middle English word bonde, meaning "peasant farmer," this was a common occupational surname for peasant farmers.
Cotterill - Originally derived from Middle English cotter, meaning "cottager", referring to a small tenant farmer.
Cropper - Originally derived from Middle English croppe, meaning "crop", this occupational surname refers to a fruit pickers or a crop reapers.
Flowers - Simply from the English word flower for the blossoming plant. It is derived (via Old French) from Latin flos.
Fowler - Originally derived from Old English fugol meaning "bird," this is an occupational surname for those who worked as a fowler or bird catcher.
Garner (other popular variations include Gardener, Gardner, and Gardiner) - From the Old French gernier, meaning "granary", a derivative of Latin granum, meaning "grain". This name could refer to a person who worked at a granary or lived near one. Alternatively, this name can also be an occupational surname for one who was a gardener, from Old French jardin, meaning "garden."
George - Originally derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (Georgios), which was derived from the Greek word γεωργός (georgos) meaning "farmer, earth worker."
Granger - Originally derived from the Old French grangier, meaning "farm bailiff," and ultimately from Latin granum, meaning "grain."
Hoggard (variant Hogarth) - Originally derived from the Old English hogg, meaning "hog" and hierde, meaning "herdsman, guardian," this occupational name was associated with pig herders.
Howard - Originally from the Old English eowu, meaning "ewe," and hierde, meaning "herdsman, guardian," this occupational surname was associated with sheep herders.
Kidman - Originally derived from the Middle English kide, meaning "young goat," and man, this was an occupational surname for a goatherd.
Mathers - Originally derived from the Old English moethere, meaning "mower, cutter of hay."
Penn - From the Old English penn, this was an occupational surname for a person who kept penned animals.
Plowman (variant Ploughman) - Originally derived from the Old English ploh, meaning plough, and mann, meaning a skilled man. This occupational surname often referred to agricultural workers. This name could also be given to the maker of ploughs.
Pound - Originally derived from the Old English pund, meaning "animal enclosure," this was an occupational surname for someone who kept animals.
Rye - Originally derived from the Old English ryge, meaning "rye," it is possible that this was an occupational or topographical name from someone who grew or worked with rye, or someone who lived near where rye was grown.
Seward - Originally derived from the Old English su, meaning "sow, female pig," and hierde, meaning herdsman, guardian," this was an occupational surname for a swineherd.
Shepherd - This occupational surname, originally derived from the Old English sceap, meaning "sheep," and and hierde, meaning herdsman, guardian."
Stoddard - An occupational name for a horse keeper, from the Old English stod, meaning "stallion, stud," and hierde, meaning "herdsman, guardian."
Strickland - Originally derived from the Old English stric, meaning "calf, young bullock," and "land," this name is probably more topographical than occupational. (As a personal aside, I cannot see this name without seeing the scene from Back to the Future II play out in my head)
Swan (variants Swann and Swayne) - This one was the most surprising to me during my research. I would have guessed this name only related to the animal of the same name, but this surname derives from the Old English word swon. According to SurnameDB, "this originally described a swineherd, and later became cross-linked with the word swan, which was pronounced exactly the same and described the bird."
Tasker - While the Middle English origin word taske simply meant "task, assignment," this name came to be particularly associated with persons who threshed grain or corn with a flail.
Yoxall - Originally derived from the Old English geoc, meaning "oxen yolk" and halh or possibly haugh, meaning "nook, recess" or "spur of a hill," this name is probably more topographical than occupational.
Have any of these surnames inspired you?
____________________
Sources
Behind the Surname - https://surnames.behindthename.com/
SurnameDB - https://surnamedb.com/
