Tasker
An occupational surname for a worker paid by the task, especially a thresher or reaper.
The #9,181 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 86,897 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Tasker comes from Middle English taske, meaning a task or fixed piece of work, plus the agent suffix -er. The word task was borrowed from Old French tasque or tasche, ultimately from Late Latin tasca or taxa, linked to the idea of assessment or apportioning work. In surname use, it referred to someone employed by the job or piece, and in English sources it is also glossed as a thrasher or reaper.
History
This is a medieval English occupational surname, with early records such as Gilbert Tasker in 1274 and Henry le Taskere in 1293. Historical dictionaries note that in some regions a tasker was a laborer paid in kind or by the piece, often in agricultural work. The surname has survived into modern times, though it is relatively uncommon.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older dictionaries connect Tasker with the same word family as tax, because both go back to Latin roots tied to assessment and fixing a charge or duty.
From the historical record
“TARTT } (^°S.) Sharp, Severe [O.E. t{.e)ari\ TASKER (A.-Fr.-Lat.) Thrasher, Reaper; Task- Worker, i.e. Piece-Worker [M.E. taskerie ; f. (with agent, suff. -er) M.E. taske, O.Fr. tasque, tasche (Fr. tdche), a task; L.Lat. tasca, taxa, a tax; Lat. taxare, to appraise] Gilbert Tasker. — Hund. Rolls, A.D. 1274. Henry…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)