Name, please. 
 Harold Walter Ichthyologist. 
 I beg your pardon - what was that again? 
Who wouldn\u27t beg your pardon after hearing a name like that?  And imagine having it and spelling it to every bank teller, school admissions clerk, secretary, credit manager, and prospective employer

Haugaard, Kay

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0 118 THE DAUGHTER OF THE FARRIER KAY HAUGAARD Pasadena, California "Name, please." "Harold Walter Ichthyologist." "1 beg your pardon - what was that again?" Who would:1 't beg your pardon after hearing a name like that? And imagine having it and spelling it to every bank teller, school adm issi<Jns clerk, secretary, credit man ager and prospective employ­er. There are enough difficult names as it is without adding ones like Ichthyologist. Epidemiologist and Taxonomist to them. Yet some families might very well have been given these names if Vie were still assigning surnames, because a man's occupation was frequent­ly used as the basis for his family's name. Thanks to the simpli­city of earlier times, however, Mr. Ichthyologist has probably come down to us as Mr. Fi sher. After 1 started thinking a bout occ upa tion names, 1 started set­ting down a few. The list soon grew quite long and also led to an insight - :rlOnolingual as 1 am, 1 could only record occupation names in English or what bits and tags of French and German that were obvious. 1 concluded that there must be a great many inter­est ing occupa tiona 1 words hidden beneath Russi an, Ch i nese, ] apa­nese, Vietnamese, Armen ian and other ethnic names. There are probably a number of names which originally referred to an occupation but which have been so distorted by anglicizing that they now mean nothing. I also reflected that some of these occupation names may have been given in jest as nicknames because someone acted like a pope or a king. Or, perhaps, he was related to a priest or abbot. Although sometimes the spelling has changed, there are many occupations we can recognize in their old clothes such as Gardner, Saylor, Taylor and Chandler. The names I like best are those based on archaic or old-fas­hioned occupations that have all but disappeared from present-day experience. Some of these are Fletcher (arrow maker), Cooper (bar­rel maker), Palfreyman (groom for ladies I horses), Scribner (wri­ter or scribe), Wainwright (a maker of wagons), Chapman (a ped­dler or merchant), Sutter (a sutler, or army provisione;:"), Faulk­ner (a keeper or trainer of falcons), Shriver (one who listens to confessions) and Farrier (a horseshoer). His daughter is celebrated in the old jingle The dac.ghter of the farrier Cou Id find no one to !!larry her I'm SUI 1 have n( people's r but couldr you can Thurber at As diffi and transI we aren't that the some poor to the teac Abbott Arrowsmi Baker Beeman Boatwrigl Booker Bowman Brenner Brewer Bucher Buchman Butler Canter Carpenter Carter Cartwrigh Carver Chamberlc Chandler Chap la in Chapman Clark Coachbuil, Coker Coleman Collier Cook Ie like that? 'e ller, school :tive employ-add ing ones ~m. Yet some ; if we were 'as frequent­) the simpli­obably come started set­also led to d occu pa tion German that many inter­inese, ]apa­:tlly referred a nglic iz i ng )me of these l.mes because was related las changed. old clothes or old-fas­present-day Cooper (b a r­ribner (wri­man (a ped­ner), Faulk­10 listens to i celebrated 119 Because, 'tis said, she grew so fat There was no man could carry her. 1 ' m sure there are a lot of fascinating occupation names that I have not ferreted out. I wanted to include a number of famous people's names which sound as if they are based on occupations, but couldn I t find the substantiating evidence to justify it. Maybe you can trace their etymology and thereby add Cheever, Mather, Thurber and Tuchman to the list. As difficult as some of our names are to pronounce and spell and transport from generation to generation, let's be grateful that we aren't still handing out last names. By and large, I think that the old names are usually simpler and more graceful. Imagine some poor little girl starting school this fall and giving her name to the teacher as Susan Elizabeth Systems-Analyst. A LIST OF OCCUPATIONAL SURNAMES Abbott Cooper Hosterman Shepard Arrowsmi th Dancer Hostler Shepherd Baker Doctor Hunter Schumacher Beeman Dra per Ka iser Schumann Boatwright Driver King Shoemaker Booker Dyer Knight Schreiber Bowman Earl Koenig Shriver Brenner Farmer Lancer Singer Brewer Farrier Loper Skinner Bucher Falconer Mailer Smith Buchman Faulkner Mason Spinner Butler Finster Masters Steward Canter Fisher Miner Stover Carpenter Fleischmann Painter Streeter Carter Fletcher Palfreyman Sutter Cartwrigh t Forester Palmer Taylor Carver Fraser Parker Teacher Chamberla in Gardner Planter Tha tc her Chandler Garner Plummer Tinker Chaplain Gla ser Rector Trader Chapman Glasser Reever Trapper Clark Glosser Roper Wa inwright Coachbuilder Glover Ryder Wagonner Coker Grover Sadler Warner Coleman Harper Salinger Weaver Collier Herder Saylor Wheelwright Cook Hooker Scribner 

The Daughter of the Farrier

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The Daughter of the Farrier

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