Akam

This is almost certainly a name which derives from one of the Yorkshire villages called Acomb. It is true that there is also a village called 'Acomb' in Northumberland, but there is no evidence that this village provided name holders. 'Acomb' near York is recorded as 'Acum'in the Domesday Book (1086), and that was also the 'home' of the first known nameholder 'Willelmus de Acom', as shown below. The village name was Olde English pre 7th century in origin and it derives from the plural for 'oak'. Specifically as the oak tree species was regarded as 'the tree of life', 'Acum' may have had a mystical, religious or administrative meaning in the sense of 'the meeting place at the oakes'. During its long life the name has been found in many spelling forms and these include the following examples and the dates when they were known to have been recorded in Yorkshire. Acom (1379), Akam (1607), Acome (1670) Accum (1790) etc. Examples of the surname recording include Elinge Accombe at St Mary's church, Bishophill, York on November 20th 1603, Anna Akam at Kirk Ella, on February 12th 1607, whilst Henry Acum married Elizabeth Blackwell at St James Church, Clerkenwell, London in 1670. The coat of arms granted in 1574 has the blazon of ermine, three red lions passant in fesse. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Willemus de Acom, which was dated 1379, the Poll Tax rolls of the city of York, during the reign of King Richard 11, known as 'Richard of Bordeaux', 1377 - 1399. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.