Poynter
An English surname most often from an occupational name for a maker of pointed laces or points, though some families took the name from the French surname Pointier.
The #7,830 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 73,007 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Poynter is generally treated as a spelling variant of Pointer, built on Middle English point/poynt, meaning a point or a tagged lace used in dress. In that sense, the surname likely began as an occupational name for someone who made or sold such laces or fittings. Some bearers may instead descend from French Pointier, a related surname brought to England by Huguenot refugees.
History
19th-century surname dictionaries place Poynter with Pointer and note both occupational and French immigrant origins. The name is recorded in England by the early 1600s, and later became established in Britain and, through migration, in the United States and other English-speaking countries.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One source notes that the old costume term point could mean a tagged lace, which gives the surname a surprisingly sartorial origin.
From the historical record
“-ing] POYNTER, V. Pointer. POYNTING.v. Pointing. POYNTON (Eng.) i Bel. to Poynton (Chesh.), form. Poynington; A.-Sax. *Puninga-tiin= the Estate of the Pun-Family l-inga, genit. pi. of the fil. suff. -ing ; tUn, estate,”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)