Levick

Recorded as Leffek, Levick, Lewick, Livick, Livock, Lovick, and others, this uncommon surname is English but has two possible origins, each with its own distinctive derivation. Firstly it may be ultimately of French origin and introduced into England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. If so it derived from "Le Eveske", meaning the bishop, with the eventual fusing of the article "le". As such this was not a bishop but was used as a nickname for someone thought to behave in a bishop-like manner. The first recording of the surname, below, is from this source, and one Henry Leveske is listed in the Huntingdonshire Pipe Rolls of 1200. The second possible origin of the surname is Anglo-Saxon, from the given name "Leofeca", meaning "Beloved". Hardekin Leueke is recorded in Norfolk in 1175, Lefeke Daffe in Bedfordshire in 1279, and Amicia Levocke in Suffolk in 1277. Examples from church registers include the marriages of Christopher Levick and Margerett Wells at Flixton by Bungay, Suffolk, on October 7th 1572, John Levick and Margreta Revill, on January 18th 1614, at St. Peter's, Sheffield, Yorkshire, and in London that of Robert Livock and Mary Jolley at Allhallows London Wall, on August 14th 1712. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Osbert le Eveske. This was dated 1189, in the register known as the Monasticon Anglicanum, during the reign of King Henry 11nd, 1154 - 1189. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.