STOCKS
The surname Stocks is of English origin and is most commonly found in the United Kingdom and in former British colonies such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Its earliest appearance in record‑keeping dates to the early 13th century, when John de la Stokke is listed in the Assize Rolls of Somerset in 1225, during the reign of King Henry the First.
At least five distinct sources are recognised for the name. The first is that it is a habitation surname, given to those who lived at a place called Stock, for example Stock Gaylard in Dorset or Stocksbridge in Yorkshire. The second source is that it is topographic, referring to a person who lived near a cleared area of forest in which the remaining stumps or recent saplings formed a coppice or a loose network of stocks.
A third possibility is that the name was originally given to someone who resided by a bridge constructed of tree trunks or stocks, derived from the Old English word stocc meaning a trunk or stump. A fourth explanation is a medieval nickname for a stout or stocky man, while a fifth is an occupational nickname for a keeper of the punishment device known as the stocks, which were two wooden boards with holes for the head and hands.
In the Middle Ages the device of the stocks was used to publicly humiliate criminals or unruly members of society. It was a system of punishment that was regarded as a form of civic order, and a person who maintained or operated the device may well have been called a stocker. The surname therefore also carries a patronymic or occupational identifying function which can be traced back to the behaviours of the early medieval legal system.
Historical evidence also shows that the name travelled to the New World in the 17th century. For instance, Robert Stock sailed from the port of London on 10 July 1635 on the ship Truelove to Berumuda, documenting the early use of the surname in the colonies. Earlier, in London, a woman named Anne Stocks was christened on 10 February 1581 at All Hallows church, London Wall.
In Britain itself the surname was most common in the northern counties; the 1881 census recorded 1,791 individuals with the name, the majority of whom were living in Lancashire, Warwickshire and Yorkshire. Today it is still relatively common in those same areas, although it is also well represented in other parts of the country and abroad. In the United States, for example, roughly 27,000 people carry the surname, with the highest concentrations in Missouri, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
The spelling of the name has varied considerably over time and across the world. Individuals with the surname have been recorded in forms such as Stockes, Stokes and Stoke. Other variants include Stoakes and Stockings, while Gaelic Irish versions such as MacStocaidh and MacStoghaire demonstrate the name’s diffusion into other linguistic traditions. Related surnames that sometimes appear through similar linguistic processes include Stalker, Stitche and Stickers, although none of these are directly derived from Stocks.
Typical given names associated with the Stocks surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Robert
Female
- Christine
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Joanne
- Julie
- Lisa
- Margaret
- Mary
- Nicola
- Sandra
- Sarah
- Susan
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 Stocks in...
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There are approximately 5,934 people named Stocks in the UK. That makes it roughly the 1,601st most common surname in Britain. Around 91 in a million people in Britain are named Stocks.
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Stocks
- Mary Stocks, Baroness Stocks - Writer (1891 to 1975)
- Cheridah de Beauvoir Stocks - Aviator (1887 to 1971)
- Francis Stocks - Cricketer (1873 to 1929)
- David Stocks - Football player
- Frederick Wilfred Stocks - Cricketer (1918 to 1996)
- Edward Stocks - Cricketer (1856 to 1876)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.