Stack
A surname that likely began as a topographic name for someone living by a steep rock, hill, or stack-shaped outcrop.
The #2,996 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 25,800 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally understood as a topographic name from the word for a steep rock, hill, or stack-like outcrop. The old Norse form behind it is usually given as *stakkr* or a related Scandinavian word, and Gaelic borrowed a similar form as *stac* meaning a cliff or steep hill. In English records it could also be associated with a haystack or similar mound-like feature, but the place-name sense is the likeliest main source.
History
The name appears in medieval northern English records and is especially plausible in areas with Scandinavian influence, such as Yorkshire and the north of England. Some later bearers may also have taken it from local place-names or from features described as a 'stack.' The surname is established in Britain and later carried to North America and elsewhere.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older surname books, Stack was sometimes glossed simply as “a precipitous rock,” showing how closely it was linked to landscape features.
From the historical record
“STACY. See Stace. STACK. A precipitous rock. Jamie- son. STA 327 STA”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom