Cocks

Cocks
This interesting surname has a number of possible origins. Firstly, it may have originated as a nickname from the bird, the cock, deriving from the Olde English pre 7th Century "cocc", and applied to a young lad who strutted proudly like a cock. The nickname may also have referred to a natural leader, or an early riser, or a lusty or aggressive individual. It may also have derived from the Olde English personal names "Cocc" or "Cocca", found in placenames, although not on independent record. But as "cock" became a common term for a boy, it may also have been used affectionately as a personal name. The third possibility is that it may be of topographical origin for a "dweller by the hill", deriving from the Olde English "cocc" meaning haycock, heap or hillock. In London it probably originated from the sign of a house or inn. One William le Cock, appears in the Staffordshire Forest Pleas (1271) and Hugh ate Cocke, is noted in the Subsidy Rolls of London (1319). In the modern idiom the surname has many variant spellings including Cock, Cocke and Cocks. On October 18th 1556, Alicea Cox married Burkrave Westdrop at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Aluuinus Coc, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of Cambridgeshire, during the reign of King William 1, known as "The Conqueror", 1066 - 1086. 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.

Surnames reference. 2013.

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  • Cocks — ist der Name folgender Personen: Clifford Cocks (* 1950), britischer Mathematiker Jay Cocks (* 1944), US amerikanischer Drehbuchautor Richard Cocks (1566–1624), englischer Kaufmann Robin Cocks (*1938), britischer Geologe und Paläontologe William… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • cocks — cocks; cocks·comb; cocks·foot; cocks·man; …   English syllables

  • cocks —    A cock crowing at daybreak drives away *ghosts and evil spirits, and even Satan, as in the legend of the *Devil s Dyke. Henry *Bourne noted in his Antiquitates Vulgares (1725), chapter 6, that:    It is a received tradition among the Vulgar,… …   A Dictionary of English folklore

  • Cocks (surname) — Cocks is a surname, and may refer to: Arthur Cocks, Australian cricket umpire Charles Cocks, British 19th century wine enthusiast, author of Cocks Féret Clifford Cocks, British cryptographer Jay Cocks, film writer Richard Cocks, English trader in …   Wikipedia

  • Cocks Glacier — (78°41′S 162°0′E / 78.683°S 162°E / 78.683; 162) is the glacier draining the southwest face of Mount Cocks and a considerable area south of the mountain, and entering the …   Wikipedia

  • Cocks IBE scheme — is an Identity based encryption system proposed by Clifford Cocks in 2001 [1]. The security of the scheme is based on the hardness of the quadratic residuosity problem. Contents 1 Protocol 1.1 Setup 1.2 Extract …   Wikipedia

  • Cocks, Cornwall — Cocks is a village in Cornwall, England.[1] References ^ Google Maps. Maps (Map).  …   Wikipedia

  • cocks|comb — «KOKS KOHM», noun. 1. the fleshy, red part on the top of a rooster s head. 2. a pointed cap somewhat like this, worn by a jester or clown. 3. Also, coxcomb. a plant with crested or feathery clusters of red, purple, white, or yellow flowers.… …   Useful english dictionary

  • cocks|foot — «KOKS FUT», noun. a tall, coarse, perennial grass, native to Europe but widely naturalized, valuable for hay and pasture, having a branched panicle shaped like a cock s foot; orchard grass …   Useful english dictionary

  • cocks|head — «KOKS HEHD», noun. an herb of the pea family, closely allied to the sainfoin, growing in Mediterranean regions …   Useful english dictionary

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