# New Occupational Surnames **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707 "2005-09-08T20:32:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/1 "2005-09-08T20:32:18Z")
Throughout history, (and in many cultures), many surnames have reflected people’s occupations (e.g. Barber, Farmer, etc.), and I wonder if surnames will continue this trend. Will there be (or are there already) surnames like Engineer, Photographer, Scientist, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/2 "2005-09-08T21:47:58Z")
I dunno, it’s an interesting question but, is anyone creating new surnames? Sure there’s people who legally change their names, and I’m sure there are some cultures out there that don’t have surnames, but as a whole, I imagine surnames are pretty much established. My corollary question is, when was the last new surname created? Probably a difficult thing to track, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/3 "2005-09-08T22:30:54Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > My corollary question is, when was the last new surname created? Probably a difficult thing to track, I guess. Back in the 1960s and 1970s a lot of black activists changed their surnames to **X** , but no one seems to use that one anymore. My surname means “small deerskin purse” in Polish, and while I actually made one at summer camp some years ago, no one in my family has that vocation. Writing “Customerservicerepresentative” would take too long, so if I’m going to switch my name to match my job, I’d better get a new job. Had I done this earlier, my name would be “Dishwasher” or “Pizzaguy” or “Paperboy” or “Work-studystudentwhoworksinthecampuslibrary,” so it’s just as well. I do most of the proofreading on this job, so I guess my surname will be Proofreader. Or if I go back to teaching ESL, I could make my surname “ESL”—but I dread the thought of everyone asking me how to pronounce that… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/4 "2005-09-08T22:52:31Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > My corollary question is, when was the last new surname created? Probably a difficult thing to track, I guess. People legally change their names all the time, sometimes to a name they have created themselves. However, I would think they rarely change it to the name of a modern profession. In western cultures surnames are far too well established at present to expect that many will be changed to modern professions. I suppose in Indonesia or other places where people still often don’t use surnames there would be more room for establishment of names of this nature in the local language, but even there I would think most people would end up adopting more traditional names. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/5 "2005-09-08T23:00:45Z")
My favorite recent occupational surname change was that of Luke Montgomery, a radical gay activist who legally changed his last name to “Sissyfag.” Of course when the attention from that started wearing off he went all conservative preppy and changed it back to Montgomery. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/6 "2005-09-08T23:02:41Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > My favorite recent occupational surname change was that of Luke Montgomery, a radical gay activist who legally changed his last name to “Sissyfag.” It is perhaps unlikely that such a name would end up being passed on to descendents. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/7 "2005-09-08T23:13:27Z")
Randomly poking around our 130,000 or so employee email directory… We have three people with the last name Coder Two have Bank as their last name, and four Bankers A handful of Drivers One real person named Tester One person named Pilotte - not quite, but close! ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/8 "2005-09-08T23:50:54Z")
But also in the modern world, people change their professions far more often than they did during fuedal times before surnames became well established. That might make it problematic, since not only does the baker’s son not necessarily become a baker, but the baker himself might be an administrative assistant in two more years, a salesperson two more years after that, and an electrician three years later. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/9 "2005-09-09T00:17:15Z")
I’ve seen “Laser” as a surname, but I wonder if the name derives from some obscure word predating the laser beam. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/10 "2005-09-09T00:20:20Z")
I’ve seen Engineer as a surname for some from India; however, I do not now how ancient that name is for families. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/11 "2005-09-09T00:32:34Z")
I swear I’ve read about people with the surname “mechanic.” This would probably be the most recent example of a true occupational surname, and the only one, at that. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/12 "2005-09-09T00:34:18Z")
> [@Argent Towers](#): > > I swear I’ve read about people with the surname “mechanic.” This would probably be the most recent example of a true occupational surname, and the only one, at that. Any of them named “Mike”? ---
**Author:** ![deevee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@deevee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deevee)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/13 "2005-09-09T00:57:06Z")
mmmm… since I work at the Ford plant in Oakville that would make me Darin Van Builder. And I wouldn’t have to change my initials. Now I’ll work on my Johnny Cash cover “A Boy Named Sissyfag” ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/14 "2005-09-09T01:26:47Z")
The Morris Mechanic Theater is named after a Baltimore theater owner. I don’t know whether his name was chosen for his ancestors’ occupation, but off the top of my head, I can’t think of any other reason. FWIW, my father (who came through Ellis Island in 1910) told me that immigrants to the US were frequently assigned names based on their trade – if you were a Polish shoemaker with a big long unpronounceable name, you might have entered America as Mr. Shoemaker. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/15 "2005-09-09T01:45:29Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Randomly poking around our 130,000 or so employee email directory… > > We have three people with the last name Coder > Two have Bank as their last name, and four Bankers > A handful of Drivers > One real person named Tester > One person named Pilotte - not quite, but close! Polish that up a bit and you’ve got yourself a limerick! ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/16 "2005-09-09T01:48:58Z")
> [@Argent Towers](#): > > I swear I’ve read about people with the surname “mechanic.” This would probably be the most recent example of a true occupational surname, and the only one, at that. I knew a father and son by that name, both in the printing business. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/17 "2005-09-09T01:54:13Z")
> [@Argent Towers](#): > > I swear I’ve read about people with the surname “mechanic.” This would probably be the most recent example of a true occupational surname, and the only one, at that. Mechanic enters the English language in around 1549, according to the OED. It’s use has changed, expanded and contracted over the centuries, but there’s absolutely nothing new about the concept or profession. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/18 "2005-09-09T01:55:15Z")
It’s has changed too, but not when it should be its. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/19 "2005-09-09T02:43:46Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Mechanic enters the English language in around 1549, according to the OED. It’s use has changed, expanded and contracted over the centuries, but there’s absolutely nothing new about the concept or profession. Shakespeare’s _Midsummer Night’s Dream_ includes a group of “rude mechanicals” (craftsmen) led by Bottom the Weaver. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707/20 "2005-09-09T05:33:31Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Randomly poking around our 130,000 or so employee email directory… > > We have three people with the last name Coder > Two have Bank as their last name, and four Bankers > A handful of Drivers > One real person named Tester > One person named Pilotte - not quite, but close! I doubt any of these have any modern influence. ‘Banker’ referred to somebody who lived on a hillside (i.e. a bank), and _teste_ was a French nickname for somebody with large head. And surely you’re not claiming driving to be a new occupation? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-occupational-surnames/320707.md?page=2)