I was making up a puzzle recently based on surnames that come from occupations. I could think of several, but looked on the internet for any I'd missed. I discovered that Tucker was once an occupation. A tucker was the same as a fuller (also a surname nowadays), namely the person who dresses cloth that has been woven. Tuck is from an old verb meaning 'pull sharply'.
The phrase "best bib and tucker" meaning 'best clothes' is still sometimes heard. A tucker was, as well as being a person, also a piece of lace or a frilly ruffle worn by women over the bodice of their dress and often tucked inside a low neckline. It was a popular fashion in the 18th century. By the late 19th century the phrase "best bib and tucker" was also applied to men's clothes.
A bib is a piece of material tied around the neck. Babies wear bibs to protect their clothes, and this was the original sense of the word 'bib', although it could also be on an adult garment, being the upper part of a dress or pinafore. A pinafore is so called because it was originally 'pinned' on 'afore' or on the front of a dress.
The surname Walker denotes the same occupation. I think Walker is Northern English, East Anglian and Scottish; Fuller is Southern English, and Tucker West Country.
Walker appears to be the commonest surname, but, English of the South-East having become the standard, fuller is the word we now use for the occupation.
Posted by: Jemmy Hope | February 20, 2012 at 10:02 AM
Thanks Jemmy. I didn't know that about Walker, and it's not in the OED unfortunately.
Posted by: Virtual Linguist | February 21, 2012 at 11:11 PM
From the mists of my mind...
Didn't "Walker" have its genesis in "walking the boundaries" of a lord's land, or something similar?
Posted by: John | February 22, 2012 at 11:07 PM
I don't think so. There are places in Scotland containing the word waulkmill, associated with the process. And the name Walkergate, 'street of the fullers' occurs in at least one English town (York?).
I've noticed a tendency to try to explain away occupational names with an alternative reading, for people who want ancestors who were too grand to perform menial tasks. Maybe this interpretation of Walker is one such.
Scottish family 'history' is full of such yarns. Scottish Millars, Taylors, Baxters, Colliers etc., all descend from warriors forced to disguise themselves as ordinary workers at some stage -
allegedly!
Posted by: Jemmy Hope | February 23, 2012 at 08:01 PM
Thanks for replying, Jemmy. You are much more knowledgeable than me on the subject.
Posted by: Virtual Linguist | February 26, 2012 at 10:53 PM