Beek

This rare and interesting surname is a variant of Boik, which is of English and German origin and is a topographical name for someone who lived by a stream, deriving from the Middle High German "back" or the Middle English "bache". The surname dates back to the early 13th Century (see below). Further recordings include one Ralph de la Bache (1252), "The Rydeware Chartulary, Staffordshire", and William atte Bache (1327), "The Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire". Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Bache, Beek, Baish, Boich, Baike, Boick. James, son of John and Elizabeth Baike, was christened at St. Matthew, Bethal Green, London, on July 24th 1749. One William Boik married Ann Bowers at St. Dunstan, Stepney, London, on September 30th 1786, and their son William was christened at Mary Whitechapel, Stepney, London, on May 17th 1797. The christening was recorded in London of Henry, son of Edward and Elizabeth Deboick, on July 7th 1872 at St. Leonard's, Shoreditch. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Reinee de Backe, which was dated 1212, "The Curia Regis Rolls of Staffordshire", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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.