Kastner
A German occupational surname originally for someone who managed a grain chest or storehouse, later also an estate or monastery steward.
The #7,997 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 74,648 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kastner is from German Kasten, meaning a chest, box, or storehouse, with the agent suffix -er. In older usage it referred to a person in charge of the grain chest or granary, essentially a keeper of stored produce. By extension, it could also denote a steward or official who managed income and provisions, especially in courts and monasteries.
History
19th-century surname dictionaries record Kastner as a German occupational name and note related forms such as Kästner and Kestner. The name appears in German-speaking areas and later spread through migration to North America and elsewhere. In some local traditions it could overlap with steward-like titles rather than a single narrow job description.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older references explain the name as the title of a court or monastery official who handled stored goods and revenues, not just a warehouse worker.
From the historical record
“Kassens, Käst- s. Christian. Kastner III. „Verwalter des Kornkastens" d. i. Getreidespeichers, dann, weil aus den Getreide - und Fruchtzinsen sich die Steuern entwickelten, hie und da = Amtmann tiber alle Einkünfte „Rentmeister^*. So an Höfen ein Hof kastner, in Klöstern ein Pater Kastner.”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen