Recorded as Puttock, Puttick, Puttack, Puttuck and Pottock this is an English surname. It originated as a nickname given to a rapacious or a particularly ravenous fellow, from the Old English pre 7th Century word "puttocke", kite, a bird of prey. The creation of surnames from nickname was a common practice in the Middle Ages, and many modern day surnames derive from medieval nicknames referring to personal characteristics. Many, perhaps this one,in real life meant the reverse of what thet appear to indicate. This surname is one of the earliest recorded, first appearing in the mid 11th Century (see below). The Domesday Book of 1086 records an Aluied Pottoch in Somerset, while one Edricus Puttuc appears in 1148 in Hampshire, in the Liber Wintoniensis. John Puttok was recorded in the Hertfordshire Pipe Rolls of 1176. Patience Putticke married Robert Tiras on April 7th 1681 at St. James, Dukes Place, London, while John Puttick married Charlotte Ashlett in 1787 at St. James, Westminster, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Aelfricus Puttuc. This was dated 1034, in the Old English Bynames list during the reign of King Canute, the Danish king of England from 1016 to 1035. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes 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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