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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English (mainly Yorkshire) : from a Norman personal name, Tancard, composed of the Germanic words þank ‘thought’ + hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’.
  • English (mainly Yorkshire) : metonymic occupational name for a maker of barrels and drinking vessels, or a nickname for a hardened drinker, from Middle English tankard ‘tub’, ‘cup’ (apparently a borrowing from Middle Dutch).

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