Husk

This interesting and unusual name is of medieval English origin and is from the medieval given name Osekin, itself a diminutive (little) of any of the following personal names Osborn, Osgood or Osmond. The initial 'h' is commonly found in names beginning with vowels. The first element of these names 'Os' is from the Old English pre 7th Century word for 'god'. Husk, with its variant spellings Huske, Hoskyn, Hosken and Hosking are well recorded in Devon which suggest that this is the West Country form of these personal names, for example, Samuel Husk married Agnes Giles on the November 22nd 1686 at St. Andrew's, Plymouth. It is interesting to note that one Ellis Huske (1700-1755) was the Deputy Postmaster General in America. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Osekin, which was dated 1274, in the Hundred Rolls of London, during the reign of King Edward 1, known as '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.