nickname from Middle English cok ‘cock’, ‘male
bird or fowl’ (Old English cocc), given for a variety of
possible reasons. Applied to a young lad who strutted proudly like a
cock, it soon became a generic term for a youth and was attached with
hypocoristic force to the short forms of many medieval personal names
(e.g. Alcock, Hancock, Hiscock,
Mycock). The nickname may also have referred to a natural
leader, or an early riser, or a lusty or aggressive individual. The
surname may also occasionally derive from a picture of a rooster used
as a house sign.from the Old English personal name Cocca,
derived from the word given in 1 above or from the homonymous
cocc ‘hillock’, ‘clump’, ‘lump’, and so perhaps denoting a fat
and awkward man. This name is not independently attested, but appears
to lie behind a number of place names and (probably) the medieval
personal name Cock, which was still in use in the late 13th
century.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
326,673
Historical Documents & Family Trees with Cocke
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The information for this chart came from the U.S. Immigration Collection at Ancestry.com.
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Click on a circle in the chart to view Cocke immigration records
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Click on a circle in the chart to view Cocke birth and death records
An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your ancestors lived in harsh conditions.
A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in
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