Rake

Raiker is a variant form of the English topographical name Raikes, which described an individual who dwelt by a narrow pass or cleft in a hillside. Raikes derives from the Old English "hraca" meaning throat, an application that was frequently used in this transferred sense, the second element "er" is the toponymic suffix meaning "dweller by", so that Raiker would have been a name given to a person who dwelt in or near a narrow hill pass. On the 9th of December 1725, Timothy Raikes and Ann Dovee were married at St. Benets, Paul's Wharf, London and James Raiker married one Mary Adamson at St. Clements, Westminster, London on January 19th 1766. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John de Rak, which was dated 1242, in the Feet of Fines Records, (Devon), during the reign of King Henry 111, known as the Frenchman, 1216 - 1272. 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.