This is a metonymic occupational name for a maker of a particular type of cake. The name derives from the medieval English "kake" or "cake" meaning a small oval-shaped flattened bread usually baked hard on both sides by being turned in the process. Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. The surname from this source was first recorded in the early 13th Century (see below), and other early recordings include: Gilbert Kake, who appeared in the 13th Century Charters of Northamptonshire; Ysbell Cakes, recorded at St. Andrew's, Enfield, London, on October 9th 1553; and Thomas Cake, recorded in Bermondsey, also in London, on January 29th 1563. In the modern idiom the surname can be found recorded as Cake, Cak(k), Cakes and Kake. Recordings from London Church Registers include: the marriage of Margaret Cake and John Towne on January 27th 1582, at St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, and the marriage of Alexander Cake and Dorithie Willyames on January 20th 1593, at St. Olave's, Hart Street. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alured Cake, which was dated 1210, in the "Pipe Rolls of Norfolk", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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.

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