Tucker History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Tucker is part of the ancient legacy of the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The Tucker family took the name when one of its members worked as a fuller, whose job it was to scour and thicken raw cloth by beating it and trampling it in water having derived from the Old English word tucian, which originally meant to torment and later gained the meaning to tuck or to full. [1] Occasionally, the name Tucker was a nickname surname given to a courageous person. 

Early Origins of the Tucker family

The surname Tucker was first found in Devon. “Tucker is a very characteristic west of England name. Its great home is in Devonshire, and it is especially numerous in the Barnstaple district. It is also found in numbers in Somerset, and occurs too, but much less frequently, in Cornwall, Dorset, Hants, and Wilts. Tucker was the west of England name for a fuller. ” [2]

As to agree with aforementioned, another source notes: “Tucker is still a great West country surname, being very strongly represented in Devon, Wiltshire, and Dorset. ” [3]

The earliest record found for the family was Roger le Tukere, who was listed in the Hundredorum, Rolls for Dorset in 1273. [3]

Early History of the Tucker family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Tucker research.

Tucker Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Tucker, Tooker, Toker, Tokker and others.

Early Notables of the Tucker family (pre 1700)

Notables of the family at this time include William Tucker or Tooker (1558?-1621), English divine, born at Exeter in 1557 or 1558, the third son of William Tooker of that town. In 1590 he became rector of Clovelly in Devonshire, but resigned the charge in 1601. [4] Giles Tooker (c 1565-1623), was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons.

Tucker World Ranking

In the United States, the name Tucker is the 128^th most popular surname with an estimated 174,090 people with that name. [5] However, in Canada, the name Tucker is ranked the 497^thmost popular surname with an estimated 9,806 people with that name. [6] And in Newfoundland, Canada, the name Tucker is the 28^th popular surname with an estimated 698 people with that name. [7] Australia ranks Tucker as 277^th with 12,532 people. [8] New Zealand ranks Tucker as 297^th with 2,038 people. [9] The United Kingdom ranks Tucker as 287^th with 21,258 people. [10]

 Migration of the Tucker family to Ireland

Some of the Tucker family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.

 Tucker migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were: 

Tucker Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

• John Tucker explored the rivers of Maine in 1602
• Daniel Tucker, who settled in Virginia in 1608 aboard the ship “Second Supply”, left Virginia in 1612 [11]
• William Tucker, (1589?–1640?), English colonist who sailed aboard the Mary and James and settled in Virginia in 1610; he was one of the first subscribers to the Virginia Company [12]
• William Tucker, who settled in Maine in 1621
• Mrs. Mary Tucker, who landed in Virginia in 1623 aboard the ship “George” [11]