Show ContentsBlacock History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

A Strathclyde-Briton family from the Scottish/English Borderlands was the first to use the surname Blacock. It is a name for a person with dark hair. As such, the Blacock surname most likely evolved from a nickname from the Middle English "blakelok," in turn from the Old English blec, meaning "black," or "dark," and locc, meaning a "lock of hair." [1]

Alternatively, the name could have been derived from Black Loch, location names in Lanark, Renfrew and Stirling. [2]

Early Origins of the Blacock family

The surname Blacock was first found in Wiltshire where Peter Blacloke was listed in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273. [3]

Dusting off more old references, we found Adam Blakelok in the Subsidy Rolls for Cumberland in 1332 and Robert Blaykelok in Yorkshire in 1431. [4]

About fifty years later in Scotland, "William Blakloche, chaplain in the monastery of Dunfermlyne, appears as charter witness in 1483. " [5] The same source notes two of the same name but with very different stories: "Adam Blaiklok of the West Port of Edinburgh was hanged for perjury in 1615, and another Adam Blaiklok was constable of the parish of Kirkpatrick-Tuxta, 1617." [5]

Early History of the Blacock family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Blacock research. Another 176 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1275, 1332, 1400, 1637, 1638, 1684, 1721, 1791, 1597, 1598, 1801, 1721 and 1791 are included under the topic Early Blacock History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Blacock Spelling Variations

The origin of rules governing the spelling of names and even words is a very recent innovation. Before that, words and names were spelled according to sound, and, therefore, often appeared under several different spelling variations in a single document. Blacock has been spelled Blacklock, Blakelock, Blacklocke, Blakelocke, Blaikelock, Blaiklock and many more.

Early Notables of the Blacock family (pre 1700)

Another 27 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Blacock Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Blacock migration to the United States +

The persecution faced in their homeland left many Scots with little to do but sail for the colonies of North America. There they found land, freedom, opportunity, and nations in the making. They fought for their freedom in the American War of Independence, or traveled north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. In both cases, they made enormous contributions to the formation of those great nations. Among them:

Blacock Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Patrick Blacock, who arrived in Virginia in 1634 [6]


  1. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  2. Barber, Henry, British Family Names London: Elliot Stock, 62 Paternoster Row, 1894. Print.
  3. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  4. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  5. Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
  6. 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)


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