Elcock

This rare and interesting surname is of Medieval English origin and is a dialectal variant of the locational name Elcot from either of two places so called in Berkshire and Wiltshire. The derivation is from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name "Ella", with "cott", a shelter or cottage, and is recorded first in 1237 at "Elcot", (Wiltshire) as "Ellecote" (1257, Wiltshire), (1286, Charter Rolls of Berkshire). During the Middle Ages when it became more common for people to migrate from their birthplace, they would often adopt the placename as a means of identification, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. Modern variants of the name include Elcox, Elcocks, Elcoux, Ellcock and Ellicock.Amongst the sample recordings in London is the marriage of Barbara Elcock to Richard Lewis on July 8th 1599 at St. Margaret, Westminster and the christening of Edward Elcock on September 18th 1606 at St. Lawrence and St. Mary Magdalene, Milk Street, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Jone Ellecet (christening), which was dated December 27th 1567, in St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.