The origin of the name is not entirely certain, but since it has a long history as a surname on the continent, as in England and from thereon, also in the United States, it presumably has the same Saxon roots. The Saxons were a West Germanic people living in the northwestern part of the current Germany and the northeastern part of what is now the Netherlands. The Romans never ruled them and after they left, the power of the Saxons in the region grew. In the 5th Century AD, their expansion policy took them across the North Sea to Britain. There they established power in most parts of the island.
In England
Recorded as both Tucker and Tooker, the derivation of the English occupational surname comes from the Old English, pre-7th Century verb tucian, meaning "to torment." It would have been for a fuller, also known as a "walker," one who softened freshly woven cloth by beating and tramping on it in water. "Tucker" was the usual term in the southwest of England (and South Wales as well), "walker" in the west and north, and "fuller" in the southeast and East Anglia.
The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of one Baldwin Tuckere in the 1236 Records of Battle Abbey in Sussex. Nevertheless, one should not be too hasty to assign English origin to bearers of the surname.
German and Dutch origins
Linguistically, the word tucker is assumed to be related to the German tucher, which means "towel-maker." In the 15th Century, the bulk of the German cotton trade was in the hands of the Tucher von Simmelsdorf family in Nürnberg, where Tucher Castle still stands.
In Old Dutch, which is closely related to Old German, the word tuch was often used as a verb to mean "to tug sharply" (see above). The similar linguistic origin of these words is also recognizable in the English etymology.
In the Netherlands the earliest known Tucker was Jan Tucker, who in 1368 sold a house on the Hagedijk Road to Antwerp in the city of Breda. Breda held a local monopoly on the wool trade in those days. Over the centuries the Dutch form of the surname has been spelled both Tucker as well as Tukker.
Tucker can also be an Anglicized form of the Irish surname O'Tuachair, which first appeared in the Annals of Ulster in 1126 AD as Uá Tuathchair It is not uncommon to see Anglicized representations of Irish surnames, and myriad examples may be cited. According to Patrick Woulfe, in his book Irish Names and Surnames it is the name of two distinct septs; one from the Irish Midlands region known as Ely-O'Carroll (which includes parts of County Tipperary and County Offaly), and another from County Mayo. These findings were confirmed by the first Chief Herald of Ireland, Edward MacLysaght, and published in his book More Irish Families.
Variants of the Irish surname include Toher, Togher, and Tougher.
Noble house of Tucher von Simmelsdorf.
Abi Tucker (born 1973), Australian singer-songwriter and actress
Abraham Tucker (1705–1774), English philosopher
Alando Tucker (born 1984), University of Wisconsin basketball player
Albert Tucker (artist) (1914–1999), Australian artist
Albert W. Tucker (1905–1995), Canadian-American mathematician
Alfred Robert Tucker (1849–1914), Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa from 1897 to 1911
Anand Tucker (born 1963), Thai-British filmmaker
Anne Wilkes Tucker, American museum curator
Annette Tucker, American songwriter and producer
Art Tucker (born 1959), American boxer
B. J. Tucker (born 1980), American football player
Barbara Tucker, African-American singer-songwriter
Benjamin Tucker (1854–1939), American anarchist
Bernard Tucker (1901–1950), English ornithologist
Charles Tucker (mayor) (1857–1928), Australian politician
Charles Tucker (British Army officer) (fl. 1855–1935), British Army General
Charles Tucker (test pilot) (1919–2010), American test pilot
Charlotte Maria Tucker (1821–1893) English writer
Chris Tucker (born 1972), African-American actor
Corin Tucker (born 1972), American singer and guitarist
Cynthia Tucker (born 1955), American opinion columnist
Daniel Tucker (1740–1818), American minister and military officer
Darcy Tucker (born 1975), Canadian hockey player
Deborah Tucker, American actress and figure skater
C. Delores Tucker (1927–2005), African-American politician and civil rights activist
Donald Kofi Tucker (1938–2005), American politician
Duncan Tucker, American filmmaker
Earl Snakehips Tucker (1905–1937), American dancer
Ebenezer Tucker (1758–1845), American judge and legislator
Eddie Tucker (born 1966), American baseball player
Fender Tucker, editor and publisher of Loadstar disk magazine
Forrest Tucker (1919–1986), American actor
Frank T. Tucker (1864-1910), American politician
Gee Tucker (born 1946), African-American actor, model, and businessperson
George Tucker (disambiguation)
Gordon Tucker, American rabbi
Harold Tucker, Lord Mayor of Manchester, England, from 1984–1985
Henry Tucker (disambiguation)
Janeiro Tucker (born 1975), Bermudian cricketer
Jason Tucker (born 1976), American football player
Jeffrey Tucker (born 1963), American writer and publisher
Jeremy Tucker (born 1974), African-American pornographic actor
Jerry Tucker (1925–2016), American actor
Jim Guy Tucker (born 1943), American politician
John Tucker (disambiguation)
John Bartholomew Tucker (born 1930), American radio and television host
Josiah Tucker (1713–1799), Welsh churchman, economist, and political writer
James Neil Tucker (1957–2004), American convicted of murderer and executed
Jonathan Tucker (born 1982), American actor
Josiah Tucker (1713–1799), economist and political writer
Karla Faye Tucker (1959–1998), American convicted of murder and executed
Keith Tucker, American electronic musician and disc jockey
Keith Tucker (footballer) (born 1936), English footballer
Kerrie Tucker (born 1948), Australian politician and activist
Kevin Tucker (disambiguation)
Lamin Tucker (born 1982), Sierra Leonean Olympic sprinter
Lisa Tucker (author), American author
Lisa Tucker (singer) (born 1989), American singer and actress
Mark Tucker (disambiguation)
Maureen Tucker (born 1944), American musician
Maurice Tucker (born 1946), British geologist
Michael Tucker (disambiguation)
Mike Tucker, Welsh special effects expert
Nana Tucker (born 1957), American actress
Nathaniel Beverley Tucker (1784–1851), author and law professor
Nathaniel Beverley Tucker (journalist) (1820–1890), diplomat
Orrin Tucker (1911–2011), American bandleader
P. J. Tucker (born 1985), American basketball player
Patricia Tucker (Kabbah), wife of Sierra Leone's President Kabbah
Paul Tucker (disambiguation)
Peter L. Tucker, Sierra Leonean civil servant
Phil Tucker (1927–1985), American filmmaker
Preston Tucker (1903–1956), American automobile designer and entrepreneur
Rachel Tucker (born 1981), Northern Irish singer and actress
Ralph Tucker (1906–1977), American politician
Raymond Tucker, three-term Mayor of St. Louis, Missouri
Reuben Henry Tucker III (1911–1970), United States Army officer
Rex Tucker (1913–1996), British television director
Richard Tucker (1913–1975), cantor and singer
Richard Hawley Tucker (1859–1952), American astronomer
Robert C. Tucker (1918–2010), American political scientist and historian
Robert B. Tucker (born 1953), American author, consultant and professional speaker
Robert W. Tucker, American writer and teacher
Roberto Tucker (born 1983), Argentine footballer
Roman Tucker, Australian musician
Rosina Tucker (1881-1987), American labor organizer, civil rights activist, and educator
Ross Tucker (born 1979), American football player
Roy A. Tucker (born 1951), American astronomer
Ryan Tucker (born 1975), American football player
St. George Tucker (1752–1827), Bermudian-American judge
Samuel Tucker (1747–1833), American naval officer
Samuel Wilbert Tucker, American civil rights attorney
Shankar Tucker, American clarinetist and composer
Scott Tucker (disambiguation)
Sophie Tucker (1884–1966), singer and comedian
St. George Tucker (1752–1827), lawyer and law professor
Tanya Tucker (born 1958), American country musician
Terre Tucker (1944–1990), American model
Thomas Tudor Tucker (1745–1829), American physician and politician
Thomas Tudor Tucker (admiral) (1775–1852), Rear Admiral in the British Royal Navy
Tilghman Tucker (1802–1859), American politician
Tommy Tucker (baseball) (1863–1935), American baseball player
Tommy Tucker (singer) (1933–1982), American singer-songwriter
Tony Tucker (born 1958), American boxer
Torrin Tucker (born 1979), American football player
Trent Tucker (born 1959), American basketball player
Tui St. George Tucker (1924–2004), American composer and musician
Walter R. Tucker, Jr. (1924–1990), American dentist and politician
Walter R. Tucker III (born 1957), American minister and politician
William Tucker (disambiguation)
William G. Tucker (born 1935), modernist British sculptor
William H. Tucker, American psychology professor and critic of race science
William Jewett Tucker (1839–1926), American college administrator
Wilson Tucker (1914–2006), American theater technician and writer
