Turner surname meaning

Turner is the English occupational name for someone who worked at a lathe—turning wood, metal, or bone into bowls, spindles, and other small goods. In a craft economy that skill was common enough for the label to arise in many places at once.

DAFN notes a few rarer senses (tournament rider, tower guard in German cognates), but the everyday English lead is the lathe worker. French Tournier is a cognate. Type: occupation—no parent's name hiding in the spelling.