Taliaferro (/ˈtɒlɪvər/ TOL-i-vər), also spelled Tagliaferro, Talifero, Tellifero or Taliferro and sometimes anglicised to Tolliver or Toliver, is a prominent family in eastern Virginia and Maryland. The Taliaferros (originally Tagliaferro, [ˌtaʎʎaˈfɛrro], which means "ironcutter" in Italian) are one of the early families who settled in Virginia in the 17th century. They migrated from London, where an ancestor had served as a musician in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. The surname in that line is believed to trace back to Bartholomew Taliaferro, a native of Venice who settled in London and was made a denizen in 1562.
The origins of the Taliaferro name were of interest to George Wythe, a Virginia colonial lawyer and classical scholar, who had married a Taliaferro. Wythe urged his former student and friend Thomas Jefferson to investigate the name when Jefferson traveled to Italy. Jefferson later reported to Wythe that he had found two families of the name in Tuscany, and that the family was of Italian origin. Jefferson enclosed his sketch of the coat of arms of the Tagliaferro family as reported to him by a friend in Florence, Italy.
It is the surname of the following persons:
Adam Taliaferro, American college football player severely injured during a gameAl Taliaferro, American comic-strip artistBenjamin Taliaferro, early 19th-century U.S. Representative from GeorgiaCharles Taliaferro, American philosopherEdith Taliaferro, American actressGeorge Taliaferro, American football playerHardin E. Taliaferro, American humorist and Baptist preacherJames Taliaferro, early 20th-century U.S. Senator from FloridaJohn Taliaferro, antebellum U.S. Representative from VirginiaLawrence Taliaferro, United States frontier agentLorenzo Taliaferro, running back for the Baltimore RavensMabel Taliaferro, American actressRay Taliaferro, American radio hostRichard Taliaferro, colonial architect in Williamsburg, VirginiaR. Catesby Taliaferro, American philosopher and mathematicianWalter R. Taliaferro, pioneer U.S. Army aviatorWilliam B. Taliaferro, Confederate States of America generalKay Toliver, American teacherAnthony Tolliver, American basketball playerBilly Joe Tolliver, American football playerCharles Tolliver, American musician and composerLisa Tolliver, American academic-practitioner and media personalityMelba Tolliver, American journalistMose Tolliver, American primitive artistIt is the middle name of the following persons:
William Taliaferro Close, late surgeon who worked in Africa, father of actress Glenn CloseRobert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter, U.S. Senator and Confederate Secretary of StateBooker Taliaferro Jones, Jr., musician, composer, frontman for Booker T. and the MGsSamuel Taliaferro Rayburn, 20th-century Speaker of the U.S. House of RepresentativesJohn Taliaferro Thompson, early 20th-century U.S. Army officer who invented Thompson submachine gunBooker Taliaferro Washington, postbellum African-American political leader, educator, orator, author, and ex-slaveIt is the first name of the following persons:
Toliver Craig, Jr., representative in the Kentucky General AssemblyToliver Craig, Sr. (first called Taliaferro Craig), 18th-century American frontiersman and militia officerCamp Taliaferro, Texas, United States, named for Walter R. TaliaferroT. C. Taliaferro House, Florida, United StatesTaliaferro County, Georgia, United States, named for Benjamin TaliaferroTaliaferro Hall, College of William and Mary, Virginia, United StatesTaliaferro Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States, Named for Thomas Hardy Taliaferro. Dean/College of Engineering; Dean/College of Arts and SciencesTagliaferro
Roy Tagliaferro, an alias of serial killer Red John, in The MentalistTaliaferro
Paul Taliaferro, a character in David Weber and Steve White's science-fiction novel The Shiva Option (2002)Peachey Taliaferro Carnehan, a character in Rudyard Kipling's short story "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888)Penelope Taliaferro Russell, secretary to John Joseph Bonforte in Robert A. Heinlein's Double Star (1956)Roderick Taliaferro, the title character in George Cram Cook's first novel, Roderick Taliaferro: A Story of Maximilian's Empire (1903), with illustrations by Seymour M. StoneToliver
Gray Toliver, a character in the 2006 cozy mystery Murder in Exile (Frank Cole Mysteries, Book 1) by Henry V. O'Neil (the pseudonym Vincent H. O'Neil), winner of the 2005 St. Martin’s Press "Malice Domestic" Writing Competition for Best First Traditional Mystery NovelTolliver
Ben Tolliver, a recurring character in the Gunsmoke radio and television series and the protagonist of the episode, "Ben Tolliver's Stud" (ep. 206×11 on television and ep. 166(46) on radio)Crane Tolliver, a character played by Wiley Harker on the ABC soap opera General HospitalCy Tolliver, a character played by Powers Boothe on HBO's Deadwood TV seriesDan Tolliver, a desperado in J.R. Roberts' Western novel, Tolliver's Deputies (The Gunsmith, #153)Jeffrey Tolliver, a recurring character in crime writer Karin Slaughter's Grant County seriesJune Tolliver, the "girl" in John Fox, Jr.'s romance/Western novel, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1908)Kenny "Captain Peacock" Tolliver, a character in Sara M. Barton's Miz Scarlet and the Vanishing Visitor (A Scarlet Wilson Mystery, #2), published in September 2013 on SmashwordsLorenzo "Guts" Tolliver, protagonist of Jabari Asim's novel Only the Strong (May 12, 2015)Michael Tolliver, a gardener, who is a recurring character in Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City seriesMister Tolliver, a Genesis comics characterMorton Tolliver, a character in Christopher Kenworthy's Dead or Alive: A Wild West Omnibus novel, of the Western Adventure OmnibusPendleton Tolliver, a fictional character in Ted Bell's short story "The Powder Monkey", compiled in the anthology Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All NightSteven Tolliver, owner of a sailing ship line in Cecil B. DeMille's film Reap the Wild Wind (1942)Timothy Tolliver, protagonist of Aaron Shepard's children's book Timothy Tolliver and the Bully Basher (2014), distributed by Amazon Digital Services (ASIN B004I1KRTQ)Toby Tolliver, a character in early 20th-century American theatrical tent showsTolliver Groat, Junior Postman, later Senior Postman and Postal Inspector in Ankh-Morpork, the fictional capital of DiscworldTolliver Lang, the stepbrother of the protagonist of The Harper Connelly MysteriesTolliver's Camp, a community in the Old West novel Fighting Mad by Hank Madison (the pseudonym of Donald S. Rowland), published by Endeavour Press' Western imprint, Pioneering PressTolliver's Deputies (The Gunsmith, #153), a Western novel by J.R. RobertsTaliaferro (apple), an apple cultivar grown by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello
