Tankersley
A locational surname meaning “from Tankersley,” a place-name in Yorkshire.
The #5,782 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 51,543 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Tankersley is an English habitational surname taken from the place in Yorkshire called Tankersley. The place-name is generally explained from Old English personal-name material plus Old English leah, meaning a wood, clearing, or meadow; in surnames, it simply signals someone who came from that place. The final surname form preserves the local place-name with the addition of the common English surname suffix -ley.
History
The surname is recorded in medieval Yorkshire records, which fits its origin as a local name for people identified by their home settlement. As with many English locational surnames, it later spread beyond its original county as bearers moved elsewhere. In modern times it survives chiefly in English-speaking countries, especially the United States and Britain.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname and the village name have traveled together for centuries, so the family name still points back to a real place rather than a descriptive nickname.
From the historical record
“W. Rid. Yorks. Johannes de Pillay, of Tankersley, 1379 : P. T. Yorks. p. 87. Magota de Pillay, of Tankersley, 1379 : ibid.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)