Buckoke

This unusual and interesting name is one of the variant forms of the more commonly found surname 'Bawcock' or 'Bowcock'. It is of early medieval origin, and derives from the male personal name 'Bald' or 'Baud', a short form of either of the Germanic given names 'Baldwin' or 'Baldric', where the first element 'bald' means 'bold', with the addition of the English diminutive suffix 'cock'. The surname development has included Ibbot Bolkok (1379, Yorkshire), Richard Buckake (1594, London), Brygett Buckcoke (1607, ibid.) and Phineas Buckocke (1608, ibid.). The modern surname has a number of variants, ranging from 'Bowcock', 'Boocock' and 'Buckoke' to 'Bawcock' and 'Baucutt'. One Josias Buckoke was married to Anne Spawlinge on the 12th October 1615 at St. Nicholas Acons, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter Boucok, which was dated 1297, Accounts of the Earldom of Cornwall, during the reign of KIng Edward I, 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.