Contents [hide]

Leak History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Citations

Leak History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

Leak is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from a family once having lived in one of the places that was called Leake. The name literally means "place at the brook," from the Scandinavian word "loekr." The Lincolnshire, Yorkshire or Nottinghamshire parishes all date back to the Domesday Book of 1086 1 where they were listed as Leche, Lec(h)e and Lec(c)he respectively. 2

Early Origins of the Leak family

The surname Leak was first found in either Lincolnshire, Yorkshire or Nottinghamshire which all have parishes names Leake. For some of the first listings of the family, we must look to Lincolnshire where the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list the following: John de Lek; Roger de Leke; and Teobald de Lek as all living in that shire at that time. 3

Willie's Lyke-Wake is a Child Ballad, one of 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants listed in the 1904 Houghton Mifflin edition. Lyke-Wake Dirge is a traditional English song that is thought to have originated in the Yorkshire area.

Other early rolls included the following entries for the family: Walter de Lek in the Assize Rolls for Lincolnshire in 1202; Ralph de Lek in the Assize Rolls for Yorkshire in 1219; Henry de Leek in the Assize Rolls for Cheshire in 1290; John Leke in Lincolnshire (no date); and Ralph Leecke in the Hundredorum Rolls for Bedfordshire in 1279. 4

Early History of the Leak family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Leak research. Another 64 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1334, 1581, 1627, 1633, 1655, 1656, 1660, 1679, 1681, 1708, 1710, 1712, 1715 and 1720 are included under the topic Early Leak History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Leak Spelling Variations

The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore,spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Leak has been recorded under many different variations, including Leake, Leak, Leek, Leeke, Leyke and others.

Early Notables of the Leak family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

William Leake, the father (died 1633) and his son (died 1681), London publishers and booksellers, responsible for publishing a range of texts including works by Shakespeare and Beaumont and Fletcher

Leak Ranking

In the United States, the name Leak is the 4,391^st most popular surname with an estimated 7,461 people with that name. 5

Leak migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Leak or a variant listed above:

Leak Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Augustine Leak, who arrived in Virginia in 1619 aboard the ship "Bona Nova" 6
Mrs. Winifred Leak, who arriving in Virginia in 1623 aboard the "George" 6
John Leak, who settled in Virginia in 1635
Edward Leak, who arrived in Maryland in 1669 6
John Leak, who arrived in Maryland in 1670 6

Leak Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Sarni Leak, who landed in Virginia in 1705 6
William Leak, who arrived in Maryland in 1727

Leak Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Louis Leak, who landed in Arkansas in 1856 6
Aaron Leak, aged 11, who landed in New York in 1868 6
Win Leak, aged 19, who arrived in New York in 1868 6
Emma Leak, aged 17, who landed in New York in 1868 6
Frank Leak, aged 4, who arrived in New York in 1868 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Leak migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Leak Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Thomas Leak, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1749-1752
Thomas Leak, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1752

Leak migration to Australia +

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

Leak Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Miss Charlotte Leak who was convicted in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Emma Eugenia" on 16th November 1843, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 7
William Leak, aged 46, a sailor, who arrived in South Australia in 1853 aboard the ship "Magdalena" 8
Charles Leak, aged 18, a joiner, who arrived in South Australia in 1853 aboard the ship "Magdalena" 8
Martha Leak, aged 14, a domestic servant, who arrived in South Australia in 1853 aboard the ship "Magdalena" 8
Daniel Leak, aged 16, who arrived in South Australia in 1853 aboard the ship "Magdalena" 8
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Leak 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. 9

Leak Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

John Leak, who arrived in Barbados in 1658

Contemporary Notables of the name Leak (post 1700) +

Spencer Leak Jr., American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Illinois, 2000 10
Spencer Leak, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Illinois, 1988 10
Bill Leak (b. 1956), Australian editorial cartoonist on "The Australian" newspaper
Walter Leak Parsons (b. 1858), American Democratic Party politician, Member of North Carolina State House of Representatives, 1887-88, 1907-08; Member of North Carolina State Senate 21st District, 1913-14 11

The Leak Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Agendo gnaviter
Motto Translation: By acting prudently.

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 31st March 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/emma-eugenia
South Australian Register Friday 26th August 1853. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) Magdalena 1853. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/magdalena1853.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 28) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 8) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html