Tail Family History

From Middle English tail ‘tail’ (Old English tægl ‘tail’). The reference may be to horsehair: compare Old Scandinavian tagl 'horse's tail' and note Peter Taylmonger 1332 in Fransson (Norfolk) apparently ‘seller of (horses’) tails'.

A lewd connotation is also possible as the word was jocularly applied to human genitalia both male and female. Some of the early bearers may belong with (2).

From Middle English tail ‘tail’ (Old English tægl) denoting either a projecting piece of land or the part of a mill race leading away from the waterwheel for someone who lived by such a feature.