Meaning of Last Name

Meaning: "to cut"

Origins: England, Scotland

Taylor (\ta(y)-lor\) is a surname in the English language which originated as an occupational surname. The name is derived from the Old French tailleur, which is in turn derived from the Late Latin taliator, from taliare meaning "to cute". The first historical evidence of the surname dates to the County of Somerset, South West England in 1182. According to the UK National Trust surname profiler, Taylor is the fifth most common surname in the United Kingdom. It is also common in other English speaking countries (especially Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States where it was the tenth most frequently encountered surname in the 2000 US Census.), but has a low incidence in Ireland where it is mostly concentrated in the North. The popularity of the surname has swelled by its adoption as an Americanized form of many other surnames from Europe, many of which are common among Ashkenazic Jews; examples of such names are: Schneider, Szabó, and Portnov. Scottish namebearers in the Cowal region may be historically associated with the Taylor sept of Clan Cameron; their surname evolving from the nickname Taillear Dubh ("black tailor"), to the surname Mac-an-taillear ("son of the tailor"), to present-day Taylor.