Fickling

This unusual and interesting name is a diminutive patronymic (i.e. "son of") form of the name "Fitch", which is a metonymic occupational name for a workman who used an iron-pointed implement. The derivation is from th Old French word "fiche", an iron point, from "ficher", to fix or to plant. A "fitch" is thus "an iron-pointed tool", and gives the surnames "Fitch, Fick, Feake and Feek" with diminutives such as "Fitchell, Fickin and Fickling". "Fiche" is thought to have been used also to mean specifically a pointed weapon, such as a spear or a lance and thus the name would denote someone famous for his skill with such weapons. One "Mary Fickling" was christened on the 2nd July 1682 at St. Dunstans', Stepney, in London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Fukkelyn. which was dated 1273, The Suffolk Hundred Rolls. during the reign of King Edward I, The Hammer of the Scots, 1272 - 1307. 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.