Chaucer (surname) explained

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".^[1]
• From French 'chaussier', 'chaucier', a hosier.^[1]
• 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.^{[1] [2]} However, Kern doubted this derivation, since the surname 'Chaucer' was too common.^[1]

The first two derivations are ultimately traced to Latin calcearium, "shoemaker".^[1]

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

Notes and References

1. Alfred Allan Kern, The Ancestry of Chaucer (Google eBook), Lord Baltimore Press, 1906, p. 6
2. Grace E. Hadow, Chaucer and His Times, (book description)