This interesting surname derives from "Stock" an English topographical name for someone who lived near the uprooted trunk or stump of a large tree, or for someone who lived near a "monastery or holy place", from the old English pre 7th Century word "stocc", which means "trunk of a tree", or "monastery", plus "-s", indicating a patronymic "son of". Topographical surnames were among the earliest created since both natural and man made features in the landscape provided easily recognisable distinguishing names in the small communities of the Middle Ages. One Jacobus Stuke married Anna Clyfforde on June 26th 1558 at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster, London. Margery, daughter of John Stuck was christened at St. Leonard's, Eastcheap, London on February 13th 1588 while one Alles Stuke married Hugh Harrys at St. Katherine by the Tower in London on October 31st, 1613. Elizabeth Stukes married Thomas Sprig at St. Dunstan in the East, London on April 11th 1644. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John de la Stokke, which was dated 1225, in the Assize Court Rolls of Somerset, during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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.