Teager

This unusual and interesting surname is believed to be habitational and to derive from the pre 7th Century and possibly Ancient British, "Teag" meaning a fenced enclosure or small farm. The suffix "er" is of early medieval origins and can denote either one who worked at the enclosure or even the "son of Teag", although it is nearly always habitational job descriptive. The usual description for an enclosure is "leah", the modern Lea, Lee or Leigh, "Teag" being very rare and believed to be originally found only in the London and Home Counties region. Examples of the name recordings include John Teager, the son of Stephen and Sarah Teager, christened at St. Olaves Church, Southwark, London on August 11th 1727, in the reign of George 11, (1727-1760). The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Philip Teger, which was dated July 25th 1596, married Isabel Clover at St. Stephene Church, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.