Tucker
An occupational surname for a cloth fuller, from the old English word for a fuller of cloth.
The #153 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 1,844 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Tucker comes from the old English and Middle English word for a cloth fuller: someone who cleaned, thickened, and finished woven cloth. The name is tied to the textile trade, and older spellings include Tuker and Tukere. Some sources also connect it with tuck-mills, the places where cloth was fulled.
History
The surname appears in medieval English records, including forms such as Roger le Tukere in the 13th century. It remained common in textile-producing areas, and the occupational sense was still clear in later English usage. Related surnames such as Tooker and Tuckerman developed from the same base or from associated forms.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In some English dialect areas, a fulling mill was still called a 'tuck-mill' long after the word had faded from everyday speech.
From the historical record
“(A.-Scand.) for Took(e, Toke, q.v. TUCKER, V. Tooker. TUCKERMAN i =Tuoker, Tooker (q.v.) + E. man. 2 (the) Tucker's Man (-Servant). TUCKETT I = Tuck (q.v.) + the A.-Fr. dim. suff. -et. Willelmus Tultet. — Yorks Poll-Tax, A.D. 1379-”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)