This very interesting surname of English origin, recorded in the spellings of Tarbock, Tarbocke, Tarbox, Tarbuck, Torbock, and Torbuck is locational. It originates from a place in the county of Lancashire called "Tarbock". This village name is pre 10th century and derives from the Old English pre 7th Century word "porn" meaning "thorn bush" plus "broc" a brook, or more specifically an area of water. The place name is recorded as "Torboc" in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, and later in the year 1311 as Torbroke. Locational surnames were usually given to people when they moved from their original homes. It being an easy form of identification to call a person by the name of the place from whence they came. Examples taken from surviving London church registers include Alice Tarbucke, married Robert Hinton on October 5th 1598, at St. James church, Clerkenwell, London, on July 1st 1620 Grace, the daughter of Thomas Tarbock, was christened at St. Margaret's, Westminster and Mary Tarbox married John Winter at St. Margaret's, Westminster, on January 21st 1635 The first recorded spelling of the family name is believed to be that of Henry Tarbock, which was dated 1505, in Baines "History of Lancashire", during the reign of King Henry V11, 1485 - 1509. He was known as "Henry Tudor" and regarded as the last Welsh King. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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