Fakeley

This is an English locational surname. It originates from a place presumably called Fakeley or something near to it, such as Fackeley, a village in Northamptonshire. This village is a possible origin although most surname recordings are found in the county of Kent. "Lost" medieval villages and the surnames there from, are a feature of the surnames lists of the British Isles, and it is estimated that at least five thousand surnames do originate from places not recorded in the gazetters of the past three centuries. As to why so many have gone can be put down to a variety of reasons including changes in agricutural practices and in particular the introduction of sheep farming which required many fewer workers than arable farming, land drainage which destroyed the Fenland and inland fishing industry, and more exotic catastrophes such as the various Great Plagues, civil war, and sea erosion. Fakeley like Fackeley probably means Facca's Farm, with Facca being an early pre 7th century personal name probably from falca, a hawk. Early surname recordings include Edward Fakeley at St Dunstans in the East, Stepney, London, on November 1st 1640 and William Fakeley, born at Eastry, Kent, on December 1st 1837.