Teek

This most interesting and unusual surname is a rare Anglicized form of the Old Gaelic "O'Taidhg". The Gaelic prefix "O" indicates "grandson" or "male descendant of", and the personal byname "Tadhg", meaning poet, bard or philosopher. There were four distinct septs of O'Taidhg in Ireland, but from an early date the name became indistinguishable from MacTaidhg or MacTeague; the "Mac" prefix meaning "son of". Some branches of this family are said to be descended from Tadhg, brother of Connor O'Connor, King of Connacht, who died in 973. Others still, claim descent from a son of Cathair Mor, King of Ireland in 119 A.D.! 30 sheep, at the value of 8d each were stolen from John O'Tayg, of Knockanveegh, County Tipperary, in 1307. In the modern idiom the surname can also be found as Tighe, Tague, Teigue, Tigue, Teige, Teage, Teek, Teak and Teke. Recordings of the surname from English Church Registers include: the marriage of Kateren Teke and John Arnold at St. Mildred Poultry, London, on December 3rd 1559; the marriage of David Teke and Anne Ocrath on June 23rd 1600, at St. Paul's, Canterbury, Kent; and the christening of Elizabeth, daughter of Richard and Susan Teek, on June 7th 1672, at St. Mary the Virgin, Dover, Kent. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Tadhg O'Taidhg, Bishop of Killaloe, which was dated 1083, (died), in the "Four Masters of Ireland", during the reign of Kings of Ireland "with opposition", 1022 - 1166. 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.