Recorded as Ballock, Bullock, Bullocke, and the rare Bulloch, this is an English surname. It is either occupational for a keeper of store cattle, or it is a nickname. If the latter it was one that was given with reference to a personal characteristic, and a supposed resemblance to an animal's disposition and behaviour. In this instance, the name would have been a nickname for an exuberant young man, deriving from the Olde English pre 7th century "bulluca", a bull calf. An early example is that of Robert le Bulloc in the tax rolls known as the Feet of Fines, for the county of Cambridge in 1195. An occupational example is that of Richarde le Bollocherde in the Eynsham Cartulary for Oxford in 1281. Examples of recordings taken from early surviving church registers of the diocese of Greater London include Richard Bullock who married Anne Aldey at the church of St. Dunstan's in the East, Stepney, on October 15th 1565, and Joannam Bulloch, who married Thomas Dawes at St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on December 11th 1605. In April 1635, Edward Bullock, aged 31, embarked from London on the ship "Elizabeth" bound for New England. He was one of the earliest recorded namebearers to settle in the American colonies of New England. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter Bulluc. This was dated 1170, in the pipe rolls of Hampshire, during the reign of King Henry 11nd of England, 1154 - 1189. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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