WHITELOCK
Whitelock is a surname of English origin, the form of which has been retained in its original structure for many centuries.
The name is normally traced to the Old English words hwit, meaning white, and loc, meaning lock of hair. It therefore appears to have first been a nickname applied to a person with notably fair or light-coloured hair; the nickname was later adopted as a hereditary family name.
Other etymological explanations divide the surname into two distinct strands. One strand recognises the medieval practice of associating a descriptive epithet with an individual; the other recognises a personal name derived from whit meaning demon or elf and lac meaning play or sport, giving the sense of elf play. Either derivation, therefore, would have produced the form Whitelock as it is known today.
Historical evidence of the surname stretches back to at least the early twelfth century. The 1153 Latin entry William de Wite locke refers to a person associated with a place called “Wite lock” in Yorkshire; that place is now thought to mean White Meadow, possibly referencing a meadow in which white-flowering plants were abundant. An earlier record from 1208, the Curia Regis Rolls of Norfolk, cites an individual named Toke Wicelok during the reign of King John. Subsequent medieval documents include the rendering John Witloc in 1243, and William Whytlok in 1285; Church registers from London in the seventeenth century record christenings such as that of Carleton, son of Bulstrode and Mary Whitelock, at St Pancras and that of Richard, son of John and Elizabeth Whitelock, at St Andrew’s, Holborn.
The surname has a number of recognised variants, reflecting spelling changes over time and regional pronunciations. Variants include Whitlock, Wattlock, Whetlock and Wetlock. Related surnames such as Wadlock, Whitham, Wilhelm and Whitfield share the same basic root elements, whilst homophones such as Whiteaker, Whitaner and Whitener have developed in separate lineages.
In contemporary Britain the name is most common in Wales, where it was ranked the 322nd most frequent surname in the 2018 Office for National Statistics survey; in England it is ranked 1300th. Across the Atlantic the surname occurs mainly in the Southern and Mid‑western United States, where it occupies the 2716th position in the 2018 Census, with further representation in California, Arizona, Texas and New York. In Canada, the name is listed at 6279th in the 2016 Census and is found primarily in Ontario and Alberta.
The heraldic achievement historically associated with the Whitelock family is described as a blue shield featuring a chevron between three gold eagles, with a crest consisting of a silver castle topped by a golden eaglet, the wings displayed. The image of the eagles and the castle are typical of English heraldry of the early modern period.
Through increased migration, individuals bearing the surname Whitelock have made the name recognizable in other English‑speaking realms, including Australia, South Africa and the broader Commonwealth. Despite these extensive movements, the name has maintained a consistent etymology, consonant with its original English heritage.
Typical given names associated with the Whitelock surname
Male
- David
- Ian
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Robert
- Simon
- Stephen
- Thomas
- William
Female
- Anne
- Catherine
- Christine
- Claire
- Helen
- Henrietta
- Jane
- Julie
- Mary
- Michelle
- Penelope
- Sarah
- Sharon
- 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 Whitelock in...
Braille
⠺⠓⠊⠞⠑⠇⠕⠉⠅
Morse
.--......-..-..----.-.-.-
Semaphore
There are approximately 1,997 people named Whitelock in the UK. That makes it roughly the 4,226th most common surname in Britain. Around 31 in a million people in Britain are named Whitelock.
Famous people named Whitelock
- Dorothy Whitelock - Historian (1901 to 1982)
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.