As a Latin term ‘carpentarius‘, ‘cartwright‘, it came from ‘carpentum.’ It is a medieval English occupational name for a worker in wood. In the German language the surname is Zimmermann.

Carpenter families in the 1880s worked as farmers and laborers.

Locations in the United States the surname is in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.
In England, only along the southern counties and in London are there many Carpenter families.

Famous: Karen and Richard Carpenter (sibling singing group), Malcolm Scott Carpenter (original Mercury 7 astronauts), John Howard Carpenter (film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer), Francis B. Carpenter (19th century American painter), Carleton Carlson (movie, TV - stage actor, a magician, author and songwriter), Liz Carpenter (writer, feminist, reporter, media specialist, speech-writer, political humorist), Mary Chapin Carpenter (singer), Edwin F. Carpenter (American astronomer), David Carpenter (British historian) and Kip Carpenter (speed skater).