Cockey History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Etymology of Cockey

What does the name Cockey mean?

The ancestry of the name Cockey dates from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It comes from when the family lived in the village of Cochagh. The place-name was originally derived from the Old English word cocc, which literally means someone who lived by a hill or haycock, a mound of fresh cut hay left to dry in the meadow.

Early Origins of the Cockey family

The surname Cockey was first found in Somerset, where they held a family seat from the Middle Ages.

Early History of the Cockey family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cockey research. Another 37 words (3 lines of text) covering the year 1327 is included under the topic Early Cockey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cockey Spelling Variations

Spelling variations in names were a common occurrence before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, even the literate spelled their names differently as the English language incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other European languages. Many variations of the name Cockey have been found, including Cochey, Cockey, Cocheye, Cocagh and others.

Early Notables of the Cockey family

Peter Cockey, a prominent landholder in 18th century London

Cockey 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. 1

Cockey Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Mr. Thomas Cockey, (b. 1609), aged 25, British settler travelling from London, UK arriving in St Christopher (St. Kitts) on 5th January 1634

Contemporary Notables of the name Cockey (post 1700) +

Richard K. Cockey, American Republican politician, Candidate for U.S. Representative from Hawaii 1st District, 1970 2
Joshua F. Cockey, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for Maryland State Senate District 13-C, 1966 3

Sources +

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 4) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html