This interesting name derives from the medieval given name Hay, itself deriving from the Olde English pre 7th century nickname 'heah' meaning 'tall' - 'He was a strong man and hey' (Quotation c. 1300). The suffix 'cock' was frequently added to the petform of a personal name and it was a term of affection denoting the pertness of lusty and swaggering youth. The surname from this source is first recorded in the latter half of the 13th century, (see below). In 1311, one Ralph Haycok appears in the Fine Court Rolls of Essex. Variant spellings of the name appear in Surrey Church Registers from the mid 16th century on. They include, Heycock (Carshalton 1562) and Heacocke (Kingston upon Thames 1593). On July 5th 1778, one James Haycock married a Jane Chapman at St. Saviour's, Southwark, Surrey. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Heykok which was dated 1296 The Pipe Rolls of Sussex 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.

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