Pikes History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland
Ireland

The name Pikes is Anglo-Saxon in origin. It was a name given to a person who made or worked with a pickaxe as a agricultural or excavating tool. Occupational names frequently were derived from the principal object associated with the activity of the original bearer, such as tools or products. These types of occupational surnames are called metonymic surnames.

The name may have been Norman in origin as the Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae lists Radulphus and Ibert Pikes in Normandy (1180-1195.) 1

Early Origins of the Pikes family

The surname Pikes was first found in Devon where one of the first records of the family was found in the Domesday Book of 1086, namely Alunic, Alwinius Pic. 2 A few years later, Hugo Pik was listed in the Pipe Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1177 and Robert le Pic was listed in the Pipe Rolls of Warwickshire in 1191. Henry Picke was listed in Assize Rolls or Worcestershire in 1221. 3

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list Walter Pik in Huntingdonshire and Richard Pik in Wiltshire. 4

Of note was John Pike, Pik or Pyke (fl. 1322), an English chronicler, master of the schools of St. Martin-le-Grand, London. 5

Early History of the Pikes family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pikes research. Another 65 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1616, 1625, 1635, 1653, 1692 and 1706 are included under the topic Early Pikes History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pikes Spelling Variations

Until the dictionary, an invention of only the last few hundred years, the English language lacked any comprehensive system of spelling rules. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents. One person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. The recorded variations of Pikes include Pike, Pyke and others.

Early Notables of the Pikes family

Notables of the family at this time include Robert Pike (1616-1706), English-born settler to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 from Wiltshire, an opponent of the Salem witchcraft prosecutions of 1692 and the persecution of the Quakers for which he was arraigned by the Massachusetts General Court in 1653.Richard Pike or Peake (fl. 1625), was an English adventurer from Tavistock, Devonshire who was taken prisoner in Caiz. Pike was sent to Xerez, and was brought before the Duke of Medina-Sidonia and other Spanish...
Another 82 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Pikes Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Pikes family to Ireland

Some of the Pikes family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 32 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pikes migration to the United States +

Thousands of English families boarded ships sailing to the New World in the hope of escaping the unrest found in England at this time. Although the search for opportunity and freedom from persecution abroad took the lives of many because of the cramped conditions and unsanitary nature of the vessels, the opportunity perceived in the growing colonies of North America beckoned. Many of the settlers who survived the journey went on to make important contributions to the transplanted cultures of their adopted countries. The Pikes were among these contributors, for they have been located in early North American records:

Pikes Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Richard Pikes, who landed in Maryland in 1664 6

Citations +

The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
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)