Family name origins & meanings
- German (also Kästner) : from Middle High German kastner, kestner, an occupational name for the steward of a granary (kornkasten) and hence, since general taxation developed from taxes on grain, a steward or treasurer responsible for financial matters at a court, monastery, or other institution.
- German (also Kästner) and Jewish (Ashkenazic) : metonymic occupational name for a joiner or furniture maker, from South German Kasten ‘box’, ‘chest’. Compare Kistner.