This interesting surname is a variant of Lock which is of Anglo-Saxon and German origin, and has three possible sources. The first source is English and is a metonymic occupational name for a locksmith, from the Middle English (1200 - 1500), Old English pre 7th Century "loc", lock, fastening. The second source is an English topographical name for someone who lived near an enclosure, a place that could be locked, from the Middle English "loke", derived from the Old English "loca". The Middle English "loke" was also used to describe a barrier on a river, which could be opened and closed at will, and by extension of a bridge. The surname may thus also have been a metonymic occupational name for a lock-keeper. The third source is of English and German origin, and is a nickname for a person with fine hair, from the Old English, Old High German "loc", lock (of hair), curl. The modern surname can be found as Lock(e), Lock(i)er and Lockye(a)r. Among the sample recordings in London are the christening of William Locker on February 16th 1589 at St. Botolph's, Bishopgate, and the marriage of Edward Locker and Sussana Meachill on October 17th 1643 at St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Leuric Loc, which was dated 1130, in the "Pipe Rolls of Warwickshrie", during the reign of King Henry 1, known as "The Lion of Justice", 1100 - 1135. 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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