Skip to main content

Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English : from Middle English, Old French peinto(u)r, oblique case of peintre ‘painter’, hence an occupational name for a painter (normally of colored glass). In the Middle Ages the walls of both great and minor churches were covered with painted decorations, and Reaney and Wilson note that in 1308 Hugh le Peyntour and Peter the Pavier were employed ‘making and painting the pavement’ at St. Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster. The name is widespread in central and southern England.
  • German : topographic name for someone living in a fenced enclosure (see Bainter).

Join the Family

Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning.

Subscribe