Some surnames of people seem to be based on the names of the traditional occupations of their ancestors.

Examples:

English or British origin people:

Carpenter, Miller, Fisher, Tailor, Weaver, Smith, Cooper, etc.

This happens in some other countries too. E.g.:

India:

Munim, Vakil, Gavli, Engineer, something-vala or -walla (this last one for Parsis, typically), Pandit, Kulkarni, Shimpi, etc.