Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries.
To date, there are over one hundred identified noble families related to the surname by the Nobility & Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland.
[4] A French knight returning from the Crusades in the Holy Lands probably adopted the surname from "Saint Jacques" (or "James the Greater").
[7] Since then, several personalities who have glorified this surname: Guillaume, secretary of the Duke and auditor of the account in 1413; Thomas, the Archdeacon of Penthievre, the Prior of Pirmil, the Bishop of Leon in 1478, transferred to Dol in 1482, the ambassador of the duke to the Pope in 1486, who died in 1503, and is interred in his cathedral; Jean, the Canon of Dol and Prior of Lehon; François, Lord of the Ville-Carré, and the Provost Marshal in 1577; and Captain of Ploërmel, who prospered in Rennes in 1621; Bernard, a Rennes counsellor in 1653.
[8] The widespread use of surnames was not evident in Europe until the mid-to-late 16th century, and prior usage was restricted to the noble class.
[citation needed] The use of surnames reached England during the conquest by an army of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French soldiers under William the Conqueror.
Over the centuries the spelling of the Jack surname has changed and developed as the French language became increasingly associated with high culture and status.
In 911, Vikings settled in their namesake region, Normandy, in current day France, where their language merged with that of locals.
William II, Duke of Normandy, could then claim the English throne when his cousin, Edward the Confessor, the restored Saxon king, died without an heir.
Historians have studied documents such as the Domesday Book, compiled by William I of England, in search of the first record of the Jack surname, and found it to be of Norman origin, first appearing in Yorkshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Nether Silton in the North Riding of the region.
Due to favorable weather conditions, and his overall leadership, Britain suffered one of her worst defeats in their overseas colonial history.