Surname Origin

The Barker Surname


Meaning
tanner
Type
Occupational
Root
Middle English barkere
Chiefly
Northern England

A barker stripped bark for the tannin used in tanning leather, and the word came to mean the tanner himself. It has nothing to do with dogs or with shouting.

Tanning was noisome work, generally sited downwind and downstream of everyone else.

Bestow the name a title it never had

An honorific Lord or Lady certificate in the Barker name, hand-finished and sealed, with a square metre of Scottish woodland dedicated alongside it. A novelty, magnificently done — and a good deal more fun than a family tree.

Choose a Package The Peerage Chart