Lockett

This interesting surname is of early medieval English origin, and is a diminutive of the male given name Luke, itself deriving from the Latin "Lucas" or the Greek "Loucas", translating as "man from Lucania". Lucania was a region of south east Italy, that was perhaps originally named in an Italic dialect with a word meaning "bright", "shining". St. Luke the Evangelist is the patron saint of doctors and also of painters, and the name was often given by a craftsman to his son. The name appeared in the 12th Century as "Lucas" but a century later it was well-established in the English form "Luke". There are many surnames formed from "Luke", "Lucas" and their diminutives, ranging from Luke, Luck and Look to Luckett, Lucock and Lukin. A family called Lockett have been established in Cheshire for over 600 years. Henry Loket, named in a deed dated 1348, held land in Withington, and since the 16th Century the family has held land at Sweltenham. On April 12th 1562 Robert Lockett married Johan Cowley at St. Leonard's Church, Eastcheap, London, and Thomas Lockett married Mary Masy on December 21st 1587 at St. Botolph's church, Bishopsgate, London. A Coat of Arms granted to the Lockett family is gold, with a red chevron between three stag's heads couped proper, the Crest being a stag's head (as in the Arms). The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Eudo Loket, which was dated 1275, in the "Hundred Rolls of Norfolk", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.