Thacker
An English occupational surname for a thatcher or roofer, with a Yorkshire form sometimes influenced by local place-name usage.
The #1,677 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 14,352 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Thacker is an occupational surname meaning “thatcher,” someone who covered roofs with straw, reeds, or similar material. The name goes back to Middle English forms for thatching and an agent suffix, ultimately from Old English and Old Norse words for a roof or thatch. Some sources also connect it with Yorkshire place-language, where related forms could point to a person living by a thatch-covered or “thack” place.
History
The surname appears in medieval English records in several spellings, including Thacker, Thackster, and Thaxter, and was especially noted in Yorkshire and other northern counties. It is one of a large set of English surnames formed directly from trades and crafts. Later bearers include the line behind the surname Thackeray, which developed from Thacker through a regional spelling expansion.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In York Mystery Play records, related craftsmen were called “Tille-thekers,” literally tile-thatchers.
From the historical record
“TEWSON, Tew's Son : v. Tew. THACKER (Eng.) Thatcher, Roofer [M.E. thackerie ; O.E. ^aca, ^cec = O.N. ^ak, a roof, thatch + the agent, suff. -«re] (Scand.) Dweller at the Thack or Thatch Corner (store - place) [O.N. ^ak, thatch -)- urd (Dan.-Norw. vraa), a corner]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)