This interesting surname is a Manx contraction of Mac Isaac, the prefix "mac" meaning "son of" plus the Hebrew male given name Yitschak, a derivative of "Tsachak" "to laugh". It may also be a dialectal variant of the locational name from any of the places so called Keswick in Norfolk, Cumberland and the West Riding of Yorkshire, deriving from the Scandinavianized form of the old English pre 7th Century "cesewic" meaning "cheese farm". The surname dates back to the late 14th Century, (see below). Further recordings include Johannes de Kesswyk (1379), "The Poll Tax Records of Yorkshire" and Gilbert Kissak (1599), "The Manx Names, London". Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Kissick, Kissack, etc.. James Kissack was christened on June 8th 1732, at St. Bartholomew the Great, London and John Kissock married Janet McDowall on July 27th 1838 at St. Dunstan, Stepney. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ralf Kescwic, which was dated 1378,in the "History of Norfolk", during the reign of King Richard 11, known as "Richard of Bordeaux", 1377 - 1399. 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.