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Show ContentsLake History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
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Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

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The name Lake is of Anglo-Saxon origin and came from when the family lived beside or close to a lake. The surname Lake originally derived from the Old English word lacu which meant lake. Lake is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree.

Early Origins of the Lake family

The surname Lake was first found in Oxfordshire where William atte Lake was first registered in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273. The same rolls included William de la Lake, Salop (Shropshire.) 1

"The Lakes of Devonshire may take their name from a hamlet near Okehampton. In the 17th century the name was established in Bideford. There was a John Lake of Bideford in the reign of James I., and Thomas Lake in the time of William III. commanded one of the Bideford ships engaged in the Newfoundland trade. The name is still in the neighbourhood. A certain Roger de la Lake resided in the reign of Edward I. in the ancient Clifton Hundred of Devon." 2

Some of the family were also found in nearby Cornwall. "Trevarrick, the residence of Henry Lakes, Esq. is in the vicinity of St. Austell, on its western side. It is a modern built house, and pleasantly situated. Behind it, on a winding hill, the trees which have been planted by its present possessor, thrive with much luxuriance; and the scenery around, though not extensive, is diversified with pleasing varieties." 3

Early History of the Lake family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Lake research. Another 115 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1263, 1561, 1569, 1598, 1609, 1617, 1621, 1624, 1626, 1630, 1633, 1640, 1656, 1660, 1679, 1680, 1682, 1684, 1685 and 1689 are included under the topic Early Lake History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lake Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, early Anglo-Saxon surnames like Lake are characterized by many spelling variations. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages, even literate people changed the spelling of their names. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. The variations of the name Lake include: Lake, Lacke and others.

Early Notables of the Lake family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

  • Arthur Lake (1569-1626), and English prelate from Southampton, Bishop of Bath and Wells and a translator of the King James Version of The Bible
  • Sir Thomas Lake (1561-1630), Secretary of State to James I of England
  • Sir Lancelot Lake (1609-1680), an English lawyer, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1679
  • John Lake (1624-1689) English clergyman, Bishop of Sodor and Man (1682-1684), Bishop of Bristol (1684-1685) and Bishop of Chichester (1685-1689), one of the seven bishops imprisoned in the Tower of Lo...

Lake World Ranking

In the United States, the name Lake is the 1,050th most popular surname with an estimated 27,357 people with that name. 4 However, in Canada, the name Lake is ranked the 987th most popular surname with an estimated 5,475 people with that name. 5 And in Newfoundland, Canada, the name Lake is the 302nd popular surname with an estimated 150 people with that name. 6 Australia ranks Lake as 797th with 4,921 people. 7 New Zealand ranks Lake as 900th with 815 people. 8 The United Kingdom ranks Lake as 725th with 9,243 people. 9

Ireland Migration of the Lake family to Ireland

Some of the Lake family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

United States Lake migration to the United States +

Many English families tired of political and religious strife left Britain for the new colonies in North America. Although the trip itself offered no relief - conditions on the ships were extremely cramped, and many travelers arrived diseased, starving, and destitute - these immigrants believed the opportunities that awaited them were worth the risks. Once in the colonies, many of the families did indeed prosper and, in turn, made significant contributions to the culture and economies of the growing colonies. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families has revealed a number of immigrants bearing the name Lake or a variant listed above:

Lake Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Henry Lake, who settled in Salem Massachusetts in 1630
  • Thomas Lake, who settled in Boston in 1633
  • William Lake, aged 35, who arrived in Virginia in 1635 10
  • Em Lake, aged 35, who settled in Virginia in 1635 aboard the ship "Assurance"
  • Mr. Jo Lake, aged 16, who arrived in Bermuda, (Somers Islands) in 1635 aboard the ship "Truelove" 11
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Lake Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • George Lake, who landed in America in 1793 10
Lake Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Edward Lake, who arrived in New York in 1837 10
  • Robert Lake, who arrived in Virginia in 1853 10
  • Inc Lake, who arrived in Virginia in 1864 10
  • Mr. John Lake, (b. 1848), aged 38, American baker departing from Liverpool aboard the ship "Umbria" arriving in New York, USA on 5 April 1886 12
  • Mrs. Jane Lake, (b. 1850), aged 36, U.S. citizen departing from Liverpool aboard the ship "Umbria" arriving in New York, USA on 5 April 1886 12
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Canada Lake migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Lake Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century
  • Private Nicholas Lake U.E. (b. 1750) born in Somerset, New Jersey, USA from White Creek, Cambridge, New York, USA who settled in Lennox & Addington, Ontario c. 1784, before settling in Sydney Township, Hastings County, Ontario he enlisted in 1777 serving in the Queens Loyal Rangers, married to Rhoda Bradwell "Broadwell" they had 10 children, he died in 1801 13
  • Mr. Thomas Lake U.E. who settled in Canada c. 1784 13
  • Mr. Thomas Lake Sr., U.E. who settled in Canada c. 1784 13
  • Mr. Christopher Lake U.E. who settled in Ernest Town [Ernestown], Lennox & Addington, Ontario c. 1797 13
  • Mr. James Lake Sr., U.E. who settled in Ernest Town [Ernestown], Lennox & Addington, Ontario c. 1797 13
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Australia Lake migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Lake Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • Mr. Miles Lake, (b. 1777), aged 36, British Convict who was convicted in Nottinghamshire, England for life for arson, transported aboard the "Earl Spencer" in May 1813, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he died in 1832 14
  • Mr. John Lake, (b. 1782), aged 34, English labourer who was convicted in Norfolk, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Fame" on 9th October 1816, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 15
  • Mr. James Lake, Jr. who was convicted in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Dick" on 2nd October 1820, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 16
  • Mr. William Lake, English convict who was convicted in Somerset, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Bengal Merchant" on 13th March 1828, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 17
  • Mr. Robert Lake, English convict who was convicted in Somerset, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Burrell" on 22nd July 1830, arriving in New South Wales 18
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

New Zealand Lake migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Lake Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • Mr. Alfred Lake, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "William Watson" arriving in New Plymouth, Taranaki, North Island, New Zealand on 30th December 1857 19
  • Miss Susannah Lake, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "William Watson" arriving in New Plymouth, Taranaki, North Island, New Zealand on 30th December 1857 19
  • Mr. Lake, British settler with his brother travelling from London aboard the ship "Zambesi" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 20th September 1863 19
  • Mr. Samuel Lake, (b. 1836), aged 28, British settler travelling from Plymouth aboard the ship "Ivanhoe" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 13th June 1864 20
  • Mrs. Fanny Lake, (b. 1844), aged 20, British settler travelling from Plymouth aboard the ship "Ivanhoe" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 13th June 1864 20
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

West Indies Lake migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 21
Lake Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century
  • Captain Jacob Lake, who settled in Barbados in 1635
  • William Lake, aged 14, who landed in Barbados in 1635 10
  • Captain Jacob Lake, (b. 1605), aged 30, British settler travelling from London, England aboard the ship "Peter Bonaventure" arriving in Barbados and St Christopher (Saint Kitts) in 1635 22
  • Mr. William Lake, (b. 1621), aged 14, British settler travelling from London, England aboard the ship "Alexander" arriving in Barbados in 1635 23
  • Mr. John Lake, (b. 1617), aged 18, British settler travelling aboard the ship "Expedition" arriving in Barbados in 1636 24
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Lake Settlers in West Indies in the 19th Century
  • Jo Lake, aged 18, who landed in Barbados in 1835 10

Contemporary Notables of the name Lake (post 1700) +

  • Kari Ann Lake (b. 1969), American politician and former television news anchor who stepped down from her anchor role to be a Republican nominee for governor of Arizona in the 2022 election
  • Simon Lake (1866-1945), American Quaker mechanical engineer and naval architect who held over two hundred patents for advances in naval design, particularly in early submarine design, epoymn of the Simon Lake class submarine and the USS Simon Lake (AS-33) was the lead ship of her class of submarine tenders in the United States Navy
  • Veronica Lake (1922-1973), born Constance Frances Marie Ockelman, an American film actress and pin-up model; she died at the age of 50 from alcoholism
  • Ricki Pamela Lake (b. 1968), American Daytime Emmy Award winning actress and television host
  • Alice Lake (1895-1967), American film actress, known for her many appearances opposite Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle in the silent film era
  • Arthur Lake (1905-1987), born Arthur Silverlake, Jr., an American actor, best known for his role as Dagwood Bumstead in the film, radio and television versions of the comic strip Blondie
  • Joseph Edward Lake Jr. (1964-2014), American science fiction and fantasy writer, winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction in 2004
  • John Henry Lake (b. 1877), American Olympian who won bronze for cycling at the 1900 games
  • Larry Ellsworth Lake (1943-2013), American-born, Canadian composer, trumpeter, radio broadcaster, and record producer
  • Dyer Barker Lake (b. 1884), American chemist
  • ... (Another 10 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Air New Zealand Flight 901
  • Mrs. Mary Louise Lake (d. 1979), American passenger, from USA aboard the Air New Zealand Flight 901 for an Antarctic sightseeing flight when it flew into Mount Erebus; she died in the crash 25
RMS Lusitania
  • Mr. William Lake, English 2nd Class Cabin Bed Steward from Liverpool, England, who worked aboard the RMS Lusitania (1915) and died in the sinking 26
RMS Titanic
  • Mr. William Lake (d. 1912), aged 35, English Saloon Steward from Southampton, Hampshire who worked aboard the RMS Titanic and died in the sinking 27
SS Caribou
  • Mr. Hedley W. Lake (1918-2021), Newfoundland passenger who was Royal Navy from Fortune, Newfoundland and Labrador was travelling aboard the railway ferry "SS Caribou" when it was struck by a German submarine torpedo on 14th October 1942, the most significant sinking in Canadian waters at that time, he survived the sinking
USS Arizona
  • Mr. John Ervin Lake Jr., American Warrant Officer-Pay Clerk from California, USA working aboard the ship "USS Arizona" when she sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7th December 1941, he died in the sinking 28

Suggested Readings for the name Lake +

  • Forget Me Not by Carole Clawson Nation.
  1. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  2. Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
  3. Hutchins, Fortescue, The History of Cornwall, from the Earliest Records and Traditions to the Present Time. London: William Penaluna, 1824. Print
  4. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  5. "Surnames Meanings, Origins & Distribution Maps - Forebears." Forebears, https://forebears.io/surnames
  6. The order of Common Surnames in 1955 in Newfoundland retrieved on 20th October 2021 (retrieved from Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland by E.R. Seary corrected edition ISBN 0-7735-1782-0)
  7. "Most Common Last Names in Australia." Forebears, https://forebears.io/australia/surnames
  8. "Most Common Last Names in New Zealand." Forebears, https://forebears.io/new-zealand/surnames
  9. "UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
  10. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  11. Pilgrim Ship's of 1600's Retrieved January 6th 2023, retrieved from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
  12. Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 2018, April 30). Emigrants to New York 1820 - 1891 [PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_new_york_1820_1891.pdf
  13. Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
  14. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 8th September 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/earl-spencer
  15. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 27th September 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/fairlie
  16. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 8th July 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/Dick
  17. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 7th October 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/bengal-merchant
  18. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 5th November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/burrell
  19. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
  20. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
  21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
  22. Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's. Retrieved 23rd September 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
  23. Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's retrieved 28th September 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
  24. Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's retrieved 29th September 2021. Retrieved from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
  25. Mount Erebus, Memorial, Roll of Remembrance (Retrieved 2018, February 21st). Retrieved from http://www.erebus.co.nz/memorialandawards/rollofremembrance.aspx
  26. Lusitania Passenger List - The Lusitania Resource. (Retrieved 2014, March 6) . Retrieved from http://www.rmslusitania.info/lusitania-passenger-list/
  27. Titanic Passenger List - Titanic Facts. (Retrieved 2016, July 13) . Retrieved from http://www.titanicfacts.net/titanic-passenger-list.html
  28. Pearl Harbour: USS Arizona Casualties List Pearl Harbour December 7, 1941. (Retrieved 2018, July 31st). Retrieved from http://pearl-harbor.com/arizona/casualtylist.html
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