The surname Gerner is of English origin. It is a topographical name for someone who lived near a barn or granary. It could also be an occupational name for someone in charge of the stores kept in a granary, from the Anglo-Norman-French ‘gerner’, granary ( the Old French ‘gernier’, from Late Latin ‘granarium’, a derivative of ‘granum’, grain, corn). A family could acquire a place name as a surname under three different circumstances: 1. the gentleman lived or worked in or near some topographical formation or landscape feature, either natural or artificial. 2. he formerly lived in a village and thus acquired the reputation of being from that place. 3. he owned or was lord of the village or manor designated. However, it is safe to say that in this case the original bearer of the name lived or worked by a barn or granary. The name may also be a variation of Warner, from a central Old French form; composed of the Germanic elements ‘war(in)’, guard and ‘heri’, ‘hari’, army, introduced into England by the Normans. The name can also be a contracted form of the name Gardener; an occupational name derived from Old French ‘gardin’; normally the cultivator of edible produce in an orchard or kitchen garden, rather th…