Lurcock

There are two possible sources for this English name of the pre 7th century origins. The first being from the personal name Lawrence, and in this case the nickname shortform "Law" . Lawrence is a derivation of the Latin "Laurentius", meaning a man from the town of Laurentum, a town in Italy. To this has been added the suffix "cock" from the Olde English pre 7th Century "cocca", a nickname for a "swaggering youth". This surname would be used in the sense of the diminutive form of Lawrence i.e. "son of". However, the prefix "lur" could also be from a Middle English given name which comes from the Olde English personal name "Lufa" with the suffix remaining the same. Recordings taken from the church registers include Helinner Lurcocke who married Edward Thomas at the church of St Lawrence Pountney, London, on June 29th 1572, Johannes Lurcock, the son of Guilelimi Lurcock, christened at St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on May 2nd 1675, and Thomas Lurcock, who married Ann Doggett at St Pancras Old Church, London, on May 7th 1831. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Peter Luuecok, which was dated 1221, in the Assize Rolls of the county 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.