[CrampusDestrus]

If many surnames came from people's professions, does that mean that one of his ancestors was simply considered to be... good enough?

[rcxdude]

That is actually the most likely explaination for the origins of the name (basically as a nickname)

[TeMPOraL]

I'm still wondering how such surnames come to be. In Poland, it feels like some 25%+ of surnames are nicknames / descriptors of a person that aren't just naming someone's occupation. A fraction of them is weird or even derogatory. My own surname literally means "a bad roof", and that's actually on the tame side compared to surnames of some people I know, or know of.