What does the name Walker mean?

Answer 1

Walker comes from the job of walking on flax to help to rett [break down] the fibres in order to turn it into linen thread. It was a stinking and unpleasant job and since the walking was done with bare feet both cold and slimy; the foot problems of a walker were pretty horrendous. It was often done by children and women; to remain as a surname suggests the person so named could not get a better job even after having children - or that a family was traditionally the walkers in a village.