Zuker

This most interesting and curious surname has two possible origins. Firstly, it may be of early medieval English origin, and a metonymic occupational name for a dealer in sugar or a confectioner, from the 13th Century word "suker", sugar. This element is related to the Middle High German "zucker", sugar, which is the origin for the German surnames Zucker, Zuker, Tzuker and Zuk(i)erman. However, the name may also be of Old Germanic origin, from the Germanic personal name "Sigiheri" (Middle English "Saher, Seir"), which is composed of the elements "sigi-", victory, and "-heri", army; or the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Saehere", from "sae-", sea, and "-here", army. The surname first appears in the late 15th Century (see below), while early recordings of the surname in London Church Registers include: the christening of Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Sugar, on September 11th 1573, at St. Stephen Walbrook; the christening of Anne, daughter of Jerome Shugar, on June 5th 1586, at St. Mary Abchurch; and the marriage of Agnes Suger to Richard Jagger on January 22nd 1622, at St. Giles' Cripplegate. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hugar Sugar, which was dated 1486, in the "Patent Rolls", during the reign of King Henry V11, known as "Henry Tudor", 1485 - 1509. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.