Stamper
An occupational surname for someone who stamped, pounded, or worked at a mint or similar mechanical trade.
The #2,666 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 22,823 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Stamper comes from Middle English stampen, meaning to stamp, pound, or tread hard, ultimately from Old English stempan/stampian in the same general sense. As a surname, it likely began as an occupational name for someone who used a stamping or pounding action in trade, such as a thrasher, printer, or mint worker. Some older writers thought it especially likely to refer to a stamper of coins or a mint-man, but the broader occupational sense is probably safest.
History
The name is recorded in medieval English sources and was already in use as a hereditary surname by the Middle Ages. Nineteenth-century surname scholars linked it with practical trades involving stamping or pounding, and sometimes more specifically with mint work. It remains an English surname and is found today mainly in the United States and the UK.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books grouped Stamper with a cluster of occupational names such as Turner, Loader, and Roper, reflecting medieval work-based naming.
From the historical record
“stameren, O.E. stamerian, to stammer] STAMPER (Eng.) Pounder; Thrasher; Printer; Minter [M.E. stamper{e\ i. M.E. stampen, O.E. stempan, to stamp, pound] John Stamper. — Hund. Rolls. STANANOUGHT (Eng.) app. for 'Stand-at- nought' (a nickname). STANBERY \ 1 for Stanbury, q.v. STANBERRY J 2 for Stanborough, q.v.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)