- Occupational name, for someone who made or feathered arrows
- Used as a first name and as a last name
- Commonly abbreviated to the nickname Fletch
History of the name Fletcher
Fletcher is an occupational name, but while the surname is still current, the occupation is no more.
Originally, a fletcher, or fledger, was a maker of arrows or, as some explain it, the one who affixed the feathers to the arrow.
A fletcher was a very important man when arrows were still used for killing game and for winning battles, hence the surname Fletcher.
However, in some instances, Fletcher is derived from flesher, which was the word applied to those who originally meant only a dealer in goat’s meat.
The German Fleischer and Fleischmann are derived from the name source, with the significance of butcher. It is noted that Fletcher gate in Nottingham, England, was originally butcher’s gate.
But whatever the origin of the name, whether the American Fletchers are descended from a butcher or a maker of arrows, it is true, as the family historian says, “the Fletchers have usually been leading people in the communities where they have dwelt.”
