Kix

Recorded in several spelling forms including Kick, Kike, Kikke, and Kix, this unusual name is English, and of Yorkshire origin. It is a locational or topographical surname from residence by one of the two "Kex" rivers in West Yorkshire. The first is a tributary of the River Wharfe and the second of the River Laver, also in West Yorkshire. The meaning of the first element varies. It may describe the 'kex' plant, that is a plant with a dry, hollow stem such as wild chervil, or it could describe a narrow valley where the river ran, in which case the derivation would be from the pre 7th century Norse word "kioss". The surname can also derive from the Norse-Viking personal name "Keikr", meaning "bent backwards", or the Old Danish "Kek", as in East Yorkshire place name "Kexby", the farm of Kex. The first recorded spelling of the family name is believed to be that of Felix Kike, who married Izabell Elkine at Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex, and was dated October 10th 1563. This was during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st of England, 1558 - 1603. 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.