This unusual name is of early Medieval English origin, and is a variant form of the occupational surname 'Pikeman', which has two possible interpretations. Firstly, it can be an occupational name for a medieval foot-soldier armed with a pike, a weapon consisting of an iron or steel spearhead joined to a long pole, the pikestaff. The derivation for this source is from the Middle English 'pic' (Old French 'pique'), with 'man', man. The second possible meaning of the surname 'Pykerman' is also from an occupational name, in this instance for a pike fisherman or a fish-seller. The Robert Pikeman recorded below was a fish-monger. The derivation for this source is from the Middle English 'pike', pike(fish), from the Old English pre 7th Century 'pic'. The surname development includes Anna Pyckman (1580, Essex), William Pickeman (1620, ibid.) and Ellis Pickerman (1782, Yorkshire). One Charlotte Pykerman was christened on November 18th 1838 at St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, in London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Pikeman, which was dated 1292, The London Subsidy Rolls, during the reign of King Edward 1, '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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