DICKEY
Dickey is a surname of Scottish origin, derived from the medieval given name Dik, a diminutive of Richard.
The name Richard itself is a compound of the Germanic elements ric, meaning "power", and hard, meaning "brave" or "strong". This personal name became widespread in England following the Norman conquer of 1066, at which period it was not previously recorded. The diminutive Dik was frequently employed in Scottish and northern English contexts, giving rise to the patronymic surname Dickey, which indicates descent from a man named Dik or Richard.
Early documentary evidence of the surname appears in a variety of forms, including Dickey, Dickie and Dicky. In the English county of Norfolk, a William Dyckes is recorded in the pipe rolls of 1362. In London, a William Dik is mentioned in the Letter Books of 1356. Scotland’s own records contain a David Dickie, noted as a burgess of Montrose in 1627. These entries confirm that the surname had already established itself in both England and Scotland by the mid‑thirteenth and early sixteenth centuries.
In the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands, the name was particularly common, and it later found a foothold in Northern Ireland. The migration of Scots to Ulster in the early eighteenth century helped spread the surname across the Irish Sea, where it appears in parish registers and civil documents from the nineteenth century onward.
Notable bearers of the name include James Dickey, who, on 6 August 1667, married Janet Campbell at Edinburgh. George Dickie, a botanist of repute, is recorded in the Dictionary of National Biography as having made significant contributions to the study of East‑Scottish flora.
Throughout history, the surname has remained distinctively Scottish in its phonological pattern, yet it has integrated into the broader Anglo‑Scottish tapestry, maintaining a presence in Ireland, particularly in its northern provinces, where it continues to be identified with its Celtic heritage.
Typical given names associated with the Dickey surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- Darren
- David
- James
- John
- Peter
- Robert
- Samuel
- Stephen
- Thomas
- William
Female
- Anne
- Bronwyn
- Catherine
- Deborah
- Elizabeth
- Heather
- Jane
- Jeanette
- Jennifer
- Joanne
- Kathleen
- Kathryn
- Margaret
- Mary
- Sarah
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Dickey in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 242 people named Dickey in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around four in a million people in Britain are named Dickey.
Origin: Celtic
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: Ireland
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: Gaelic
