This interesting surname is of early medieval English origin, and is a diminutive of the baptismal name "Badde". The Olde English pre 7th Century given name "Bad(d)a" is of uncertain origin, but may be a short form of the various compound names with the first element "beadu", battle. It has also been suggested that the first element may be "Bat(e)", from a pet-form of "Bartholomew". The suffix "cock", applied to a young lad who strutted proudly like a cock, and soon became a generic term for a youth and was attached with hypocoristic force to the short forms of many medieval given names. "Batecok" was noted in the 1288 Assize Court Rolls of Cheshire, and "Badekoc" appeared in the 1296 Subsidy Rolls of Sussex. William Badecok was listed in the Ministers Accounts of the Earldom of Cornwall, Dorset (1297). In the modern idiom the surname can be found as Badcok, Badcocke, Badcock and Batcock. Recordings of the surname from London Church Registers include: the christening of Pacience Badcock on March 31st 1563, at St. Mary Somerset; the christening of John, son of Thomas Badcock, at St. Dunstan's in the East, on May 31st 1563; and the marriage of Martha Badcock and Raphe King at St. Mary Magdalene's, Old Fish Street, on June 28th 1585. A Coat of Arms granted to the family depicts three red cocks on a silver pale on a black shield, the Crest being a red demi cock. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Edrich Bathecoc, which was dated 1221, witness in the "Assize Court Rolls of Worcestershire", 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.