The surname Chaucer is thought to have one of the following derivations:
- The name Chaucer frequently occurs in the early Letter Books and in French language of the time it meant "shoemaker", which meaning is also recorded in the "Glossary of Anglo-Norman and Early English Words".
- From French 'chaussier', 'chaucier', a hosier.
- It may have arisen from 'chaufecire', 'chafewax', i.e. a clerk of the court of Chancery whose duty consisted in affixing seals to royal signature. However, Kern doubted this derivation, since the surname 'Chaucer' was too common.
The first two derivations are ultimately traced to Latin calcearium, "shoemaker".
The surname may refer to:
- Alice Chaucer, Duchess of Suffolk
- Chaucer Elliott (1879–1913), Canadian sportsman
- Geoffrey Chaucer, "Father of English literature"
- Thomas Chaucer (c. 1367 – 1434), Speaker of the English House of Commons
References
- ^ Alfred Allan Kern, The Ancestry of Chaucer (Google eBook), Lord Baltimore Press, 1906, p. 6
- ^ Grace E. Hadow, Chaucer and His Times, (book description)
Surname listThis page lists people with the surname Chaucer. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link. Categories:
