This interesting surname of English origin with variant spellings Stickens, Stickins, Stickings, Steckings, etc. is a double patronymic of the nickname Stick given to a tall, slender person, deriving from the Old English pre 7th Century "sticca" meaning "a rod or staff of wood" or "a slender branch". One Gilbert Stikke (1190) is recorded in "The Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire", and Wido Stik (1204) "The Pipe Rolls of Norfolk". The surname dates back to the late 16th Century, (see below). London church recordings include one Stephen Stickings who married Eliza Cooke on November 3rd 1617, at St. Mary, Whitechapel. James Stickens married Mary Buckland on May 22nd 1750, at St. George, Mayfair, Westminster, and Maria Stickens was christened on August 3rd 1842, at St. Dunstan's, Stepney. Elizabeth Stickings married Joseph Larking at St. Benet Paul's Wharf, on October 30th 1860. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Jasper Stickins married Annes Taylor, which was dated 1589, at St. Giles, Cripplegate, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.