MAURICE TAYLOR

From the Late Latin name Mauricius, a derivative of Maurus (a byname meaning ‘Moor’, i.e. ‘dark, swarthy’), borne by, among others, an early Byzantine emperor (c.539–602). It was introduced to Britain by the Normans and was popular in the Middle English period, but was not widely adopted by the nobility and became rare in the 17th century. Between the mid-19th century and the 1940s, it was moderately popular but has since faded again. See also Morris.

English and Scottish: occupational name for a tailor, from Old French tailleur (Late Latin taliator, from taliare ‘to cut’). The surname is extremely common in Britain and Ireland, and its numbers have been swelled by its adoption as an Americanized form of the numerous equivalent European names, most of which are also very common among Ashkenazic Jews, for example Schneider, Szabó, and Portnov.