Labor Day Names: Occupational names for your little Pilot or Poet
By Linda Rosenkrantz
It’s become a Nameberry tradition, almost since the beginning to celebrate occupational names on Labor Day. This year we’re not only featuring those whose original occupations might no longer exist in the modern world, though they’re all good, wearable, sometimes trendy names, but also some of the more current occupational word-names which seem to be popping up with increasing frequency.
Right now, the usual, perhaps overworked, suspects populate the upper reaches of the popularity list, with Mason at #7. Followed by the er-ending faves Carter, Hunter, Cooper, Ryder, Tucker, Archer, Sawyer, Gunner, and Tanner, all of which are in the Top 300.
But how about some of the more unusual ones that haven’t been heard quite so often? Consider these:
BAIRD—Scottish version of bard—a poet, minstrel
BAXTER–communal baker, primarily female
BOOKER—scribe, used by Thandie Newton
BRENNER–charcoal burner and distiller of spirits
CARBRY–from the Gaelic for charioteer
CARDER—wool carder
CARRELL—maker of pillows
CASE—maker of boxes, now at #601
COLEMAN—charcoal burner, #873
CRAMER—shopkeeper
CURRIER—preparer of leather
FLETCHER—someone who attached feathers to the shaft of an arrow, #631, used by Brendan Fraser and Samantha Bee
GAGE—moneylender, #328, used by Beach Boy Dennis Wilson
GARTH—person in charge of a garden
MARSHALL—one who cares for horses #356, used by Peyton Manning and Patrick Kennedy
MERCER—a trader
MILLER—owner or worker in a grain mill, #852, used by Scott Wolf, Melissa Etheridge and Stella McCartney
REEVE—sheriff, local official
SHEPHERD– #797, used by Jerry Seinfeld, Zac Hanson and Jared Padalecki
SLATER—coverer of roofs with slate, used for one of their twins by Angela Bassett and Courtney Vance
SMITH–blacksmith
SPENCER–a person who dispensed provisions to those who worked at a manor, #292, used by Cuba Gooding, Jr and Tony Hawk
SUMNER—a summoner of witnesses to court
THATCHER—person who thatched roofs with straw, #847, used by Cat Cora and Meghan Kelly
TOLLIVER–metal worker
WARD—guard, guardian
WEBSTER–weaver
WRIGHT—craftsman
Modern babynamers have given the category a bit of a twist—rather than choosing occupational names with an archaic meaning that might have much relevance, we’ve seen the emergence of more straightforward profession word-names, a group favored especially by celebs and which seems to be growing all the time. I won’t include the royal “professions”—Prince and Princess et al, though they may be fulltime occupations.
CHAPLIN—used by Ever Carradine (probably used more as a tribute to Charlie than for its profession).
PILOT, famously used by Jason Lee for Pilot Inspektor
PIPER–#789, used by Gillian Anderson, Cuba Gooding, Jr, Sarah Palin and Samantha Bee
RACER—used by Robert Rodriguez and Sam Worthington
SAILOR—used by Christie Brinkley
SCOUT–used by Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, Tom Berenger and Kerri Walsh
STRUMMER
If you chose one of these names, would it have any relation to the actual occupation?