Spindler
An occupational surname for a maker of spindles, the small tool used in spinning thread.
The #8,969 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 84,634 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname comes from words for a spindle, the pin or rod used in spinning thread. In English sources it is explained as a trade name meaning “spindle-maker,” built from Middle English spindle plus an agent suffix. German uses the same basic idea: Spindler is an occupational name for someone who made or worked with spindles, often glossed as a turner or spindle-maker.
History
The name appears in English surname collections as an occupational byname, though it is also established in German-speaking areas with the same trade sense. In English records it is relatively uncommon compared with simpler forms like Spinner or Spindle, but it follows the same broad pattern of surnames derived from medieval crafts and tools. Because the surname occurs in both English and German traditions, modern bearers may have either ancestry.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books liked to group Spindler with other craft names such as Spinner, Shuttler, and Weaver because they preserve medieval textile trades in family names.
From the historical record
“Spendlove, q.v. SPINDLER (Eng.) Spindle-Maker [M.E. spin(d)el, O.E. spinl, spindle + the agent. suff. -ere] SPINK (Scand.) a nickname from the Finch [M.E. and Dial. E. and Scot, spini (late M.E. spynke), a finch ; of Scand. orig.: cp. Dial. Scand. spink(e, a small bird] Emma Spink. — Hund. Rolls. The larke with his…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)