Tack

Recorded as Tace, Tack, Tacke, Thacke, Tackes, the diminutives Tackett, Tackle, Tackell, the patronymics Tackes and Takes, and the genitives Tacker, Taker, and possibly others, this is an English surname, although probably one of French origins. Most surprisingly it is not apparently recorded in any of the dictionaries of surnames. This from experience suggests that the omission is based upon the inability to provide a meaning. In our opinion the origin is the French word 'tache,' which is a surname in its own right in France. It originally was believed to mean spot or stain, but when used in regard to an occupation may have described an early decorator of buildings or painter of furniture. Over the seven hundred or more years since surnames came into popular use, the meaning of words and words themselves and often the languages which created them, have often changed out of recognition. As such it was probably introduced into England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Examples of recordings taken from early surving church registers include Elizabeth Tacke who married Edward Gwynn at the church of St Mary-le-Bow in the city of London, on June 7th 1545, and Penina Tacker who was christened at St James Clerkenwell, on January 10th 1636.