Lackham

Recorded as Lackham and the more usual Luckham, this is an English surname. It is clearly locational and would seem to originate from the village of Luckham, meaning "Luca's homestead", in the county of Somerset, in the West Country. Curiously perhaps, in its apparent home region the surname is only to be found as Lackham, which may be a miss spelling. The first known recording in church registers is that of William Lackham, who married Deborah Phillips at Wedmore in Somerset, on July 19th 1595. Locational names of this type were usually "from" names. That is to say surnames given to people after they left their original homes, to move somewhere else. The easiest way to identify a stranger being to call him, or sometimes her, by the name of the place from whence they came. Spelling being at best erratic often lead to variant or "sounds like" spellings, but here we appear to have a role reversal, with the correct spelling being found far away. The name is well recorded in the diocese of Greater London, an example of the recordings being that of Andrew Luckham, whose son Thomas, was christened at St Dunstans in the East, Stepney, on September 14th 1659.