Lucock

This unusual and interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and represents a rare survival of an Olde English pre 7th Century personal name into Middle English; it is rare because a great many native Anglo-Saxon personal names disappeared after the Norman Conquest of 1066 and the subsequent introduction of Continental given names. he surname Lucock, also found as Lo(w)cock, Luck(c)ock, Luckcuck and Lewcock, derives from the Olde English male personal name "Lufa", from "lufu", love, with the later addition of the affectionate or diminutive suffix "-cock", sometimes used in the same way as the suffix "-kin", to distinguish the son from the father. The personal name is well recorded in the 13th Century: Leucok Schayfe is listed in the Lancashire Assize Rolls of 1246; Lovekoc de Wlvedale in Yorkshire in 1275; and Lokoc de Heppewrth, also in Yorkshire in 1286. The surname development includes: Geoffrey Luvecoc or Lucoc (1259, Yorkshire); Henry Lovecok (1274, Essex); and Robert Lukok (1338, Yorkshire), and among the examples from Surrey Church Registers are the marriage of Rychard Lucocke and Elizabeth Steavens in Shere, on February 20th 1554, and the christening of Thomas, son of Edward Lucock, on May 22nd 1636, at Walton on the Hill. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Peter Luuecok, which was dated 1221, witness in the "Assize Court Rolls of Warwickshire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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.