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Origin / History of the Taylor Name

This is an English surname of French origins. It derives from the word ‘tailleur’ meaning ‘a cutter-out of cloth’, the surname being adopted from the medieval job description after the 12^th Century.  It would seem that tradition dictates that the spelling as tailor refers to the trade of tailoring, whilst Taylor, Tayler, Tailour and Taylour are the surname forms, but this is arguable.  What is certain is that the surname is extremely popular, and in England ranks second only to Smith in the surnames listing.  It is said that over the centuries its numbers have been swelled by its adoption as the English forms of various equivalent continental names such as Schneider, Szabo, and Portnov, which have entered into Britain mainly as refugee names.  Early examples of the surname recording taken from surviving rolls and registers of the medieval period include: Walter Taylur, in the records of Canterbury Cathedral in 1180; William le Taillur, in the Somerset Pipe Rolls in 1182; and Roger le Taylur, in the Lincolnshire Hundred Rolls in 1273.  

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