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Scroll down past the History of the Name for a list of people in this family group.

Origin / History of the Carpenter Name

This ancient and widespread name is of early medieval English origin, and is an occupational name for a worker in wood, a 'carpenter'.  The surname derives from the Anglo-Norman French term 'carpentier', developed in England after the Conquest of 1066, and deriving from the Late Latin 'carpentarius', cartwright, from 'carpentum', cart, a word of Gaulish origin related to 'carrum' - cart or wagon.  This surname has the rare distinction of retaining its original spelling of the 12th Century into modern English, and is one of a select group of occupational surnames developed from essential and skilled employment during the Middle Ages; other examples are Smith, Farrar, Cartwright, Miller, Tanner, and Tiler.  Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the name bearer, and later became hereditary.

Coat of Arms / Crest
A Coat of Arms is bestowed upon individuals, not families.  They are not transferable, but may be handed down and derived by family members.

One of the earliest Coats of Arms granted to a family of the name depicts two lions, gold, rampant combatant, on a blue shield.

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