Callender
An occupational surname for a cloth finisher—someone who pressed and smoothed linen or other fabric.
The #6,004 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 53,901 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Callender is most commonly explained as an occupational name from the trade of a calenderer, a person who calendered cloth—that is, pressed and smoothed it to give it a finish or gloss. The word is tied to the older verb meaning 'to smooth or press cloth,' ultimately from the French form reflected in the trade term. Older sources also mention a possible local origin from places called Callander in Scotland, but the occupational explanation is usually treated as the stronger one.
History
The name appears in English and Scottish records in forms such as Callander and Callender, and both spellings have been used in practice. Nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century surname writers often grouped it with other occupational names based on trades in cloth-working. In modern usage it is found especially in Britain and in countries of the English-speaking diaspora, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname writers liked to connect Callender with the cloth trade because a 'calenderer' literally gave fabric its final polished finish.
From the historical record
“CAIRD, a tinker. CALLENDER, one who puts a gloss on linen. CALLMAN, the maker of ladies' calls. In the " Wife of Bath's Tale," the wife appeals to the Queen's attendants : " Let see, which is the proudest of them all, That weareth or a kerchief or a calle." Sir John Call, Bart., the distinguished engineer in India…”
— Family Names and their Story