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Re: looking for a definition of my name!!!
The full - 'patrician fuller from the hilltop'....
Knowles is an English name - Knoll/Knole was 'hilltop' and the forms Knollys and Knowles developed to indicate 'of' or 'from' the hilltop as well as the plural.Tucker as an occupation surname indicated a fuller, one who fulled, teased and burled cloth - it actually comes from a verb meaning 'to maltreat' so that would be the literal meaning - maltreater ;o) But a Norman name has been swallowed up by the occupational meaning Toutcoeur or 'all heart' meaning 'courage'. Whether your family has English peasant roots or the older French one will never be known but it makes for an interesting story anyway ;o)Devon
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