The ancient word "sic" of Olde English pre 7th Century origins, is the precursor of this surname. "Sic" translates as a gully, dip, or hollow, but conversely in East Anglia, it describes a stream flowing through flat or marshy land. The modern variant forms include Sich, Sitch and Saich, and these are considered South Eastern and East Anglian forms, whilst "Sikes" is from the Midlands and North, although "Sykes" is almost exclusively of Yorkshire origins. Either way the name is residential, and describes one who lived at a "Sic". The "link" spellings include John Seache who married Elyzabeth Bruyt, on April 27th 1563, at the Church of St. Stephan, Coleman Street, London, and Thomas Seach recorded at St. Nicholas Cole Abbey, London, on August 31st 1653. Later, on July 4th 1758, Ann Saich married Joseph Hunt, at Hare-Field, Middlesex, and on December 27th 1784, Matthew Saich married Rebecca Radcliffe, at St. James', Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ralph de Sich, which was dated 1166, in the "County Pipe Rolls of Norfolk, during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. 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.