Chartier
A French surname meaning “wagoner” or “carter,” originally an occupational name for someone who drove a cart or wagon.
The #6,239 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 56,351 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Chartier comes from Old French chartier, meaning a carter or wagon driver. It is built on chart(e), “cart” or “wagon,” ultimately from Latin carrus, “cart.” In older French usage, the word could also be related to forms for a jailer in some contexts, but the occupational sense is the standard surname origin.
History
The name is well established in France and has spread into French-speaking communities abroad, including North America. Older surname books also note possible confusion with names derived from Chartres or with other similar-looking forms, but the occupational meaning is the main one for Chartier. It remains especially familiar as a French and Québécois surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older onomastic works also mention Chartier as a saint’s name in Latinized form, though that is separate from the main surname origin.
From the historical record
“Comp. Temple. CHARTIER. Fr. A wagoner, carter. CHARTRES. CHARTRESS. A large town in tlie department of Eure et Loii-e, in France. CHASE. A chase " is a privileged place for the receipt of deer, &c., being of a middle nature betwixt a forest and a park."”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom