Tacon

This interesting surname is a developed form of the Old French Medieval "Tache". This word has two possible metronymic meanings when applied to a surname, the first is job descriptive for a son of person who applied paints, washes or polishes to buildings or furniture, a combination of decorator and polisher. The second is personal and a form of nickname for someone with a prominent distinguishing feature such as a birthmark, "Tache" literally translating as "Stain". The variant spellings are (in France) Tachet, Tachon, Taccone, Tacheau and Taguot and in England Tacon. Tacone and Taken, the latter being the most popular form, and probably a deliberate 18th Century "anglicization" to hide the origin whilst retaining the basic sound. Examples include Cornelia Tacham of Westminster (1713), Thomas Tachron of Holborn in 1732, whilst Isaac Taken married Anne Blake at Stepney on May 21st 1797. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Gude Wallace Tacon, which was dated January 31st 1871, married Henrietta Paterson, at Hounslow, Bucks, during the reign of Queen Victoria "The Great White Queen", 1837 - 1901. 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.