Where the Carpenter name comes from

Carpenter is an occupational surname, derived from the profession of carpenter. The word goes back to Latin carpentarius. The name reached England in Anglo-Norman French around the time of the Norman conquest of 1066. In Old French it was commonly written Carpentier, and its earlier form was Charpentier.

It may have begun as a nickname or a description of someone's occupation around 900 to 1000. The earliest recorded use as an English surname dates from 1121, though the Domesday Book of 1086 may use it earlier as a secondary name or description. It came into common use in Middle English between about 1275 and 1325. In the United States, Carpenter ranked as the 231st most common surname in the 2010 census.