This very unusual and interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and derives from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name "Daecca", of obscure and ancient origin. The personal name appears as the first element in the placenames Dagenham, in Essex, recorded as "Daeccanhaam" in the Saxon Charters of 692, and meaning "Daecca's homestead or estate", and Daglingworth in Gloucestershire, recorded as "Dakelingwrth" in 1200, and meaning "the homestead of Daecca's people". The personal name is recorded in the 12th Century as "Decche", and in 1250 as "Dacke" (Staffordshire). The surname from this source is found mainly in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, and can be found as Dack, Dax, Dake, Dacke, and the patronymic form Dax, from Dacks. John Dack and Rose Paly were married at Caister on Sea, Norfolk, in 1544, and Sarah Dack was christened in Colchester, Essex, on November 11th 1690. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alexander Dacke, which was dated 1275, in the "Norfolk Hundred Rolls", 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.

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