The German surname Gaertner , also spelled Gärtner, is an occupational name for a gardener or vintner, from an agent derivative of the Middle High German term garte meaning “ an enclosure or a garden.” The name is forst recorded in Bavaria, southern Germany, in the 13th Century. The first record of the name in the New World is an immigration record from 1709 showing the arrival of Jacob Gärtner in New York City. A notable bearer of the name was the 18th Century German astronomer Christian Gärtner who discovered the craters on the Moon.