This very unusual and interesting name is one of the variant forms of the more common surname "Ricks" or "Rix", which has two possible origins. The first of these is derived from the given name "Richard", composed of the Germanic elements "ric", power and "hard", hardy, brave, strong, where "Rick" is a diminutive form of "Richard" and "Ricks" is the patronymic meaning "son of Rick". This name can also be spelt as "Rickson", "Rix" and "Riches", as well as the variants "Reeks", "Rex" and "Rekes". The second possible origin is a topographical name for someone who lived on a piece of land overgrown with rushes, derived from the Old English pre 7th Century "rixe", rush. One Agnes Reeks married Thomas Ponderson on the 15th October 1553 at Grantchester, Cambridgeshire, and Elizabeth Reeks was christened on the 7th October 1555 at St. Margaret's, Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ralph Rixe, which was dated 1279, in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire, during the reign of King Edward 1, known as 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.