Zelake

Recorded in a number of spellings including:Salack, Sellack, Sellick, Sillick, Silix, Sullocke, Zellick and Zelake, this is an English surname. It originates from a place in the county of Herefordshire, on the Weslh Borders, called Sellack. First recorded as Lann Suluc circa 1150 in the Pipe Rolls of that county and as Selak in 1301, the name derives from the Olde Welsh "lann" meaning a church. This element is most frequently found in place names of Wales, Cornwall, Herefordshire and Cumberland. The second element is the personal name Suluc, a hypocoristic form of Suliau, the whom the church was dedicated. The surname is first recorded in the mid 16th Century, (see below), and examples taken from surviving church registers include: Hanibal, the son of John Sellicke, who was christened at St. Margaret's, Westminster, London, on January 20th 1605, whilst on February 1st 1609, Joane Sellick appears in the Marriage Register of St. Sampson's Church, Cornwall. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Johnes Sellacke, son of Thomas Sellacke, which was dated August 16th 1560. He was christened at St. Ewe's church, Cornwall, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth Ist, 1558 - 1603. Throughout the centuries surnames in every country have continued to "develop", often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.