Wilck History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• England

Etymology of Wilck

The name Wilck originated with the Anglo-Saxon tribes that once ruled Britain. It is derived from a medieval given name, a short form of William. 1

Wilck is a patronymic surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. Many patronyms were formed when a son used his father's personal name as a surname, while others came from the personal names of famous religious and secular figures. In this case, the surname was originally derived from the popular medieval surname William, which became even more popular after the Norman Conquest of England, in 1066, led by William the Conqueror.

Early Origins of the Wilck family

Early History of the Wilck family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wilck research. Another 73 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1529, 1535, 1545, 1548, 1551, 1553, 1556, 1564, 1570, 1580, 1598, 1600, 1641, 1665, 1666, 1690, 1691, 1732, 1740 and 1760 are included under the topic Early Wilck History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wilck Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Wilck has appeared include Wilkes, Wilke, Wilks and others.

Early Notables of the Wilck family

Israel Wilkes, a 17th century citizen and distiller of London, father of the politician John Wilkes. Sir Thomas Wilkes (1545?-1598), was an English diplomatist, born about 1545, and is said to have been a native of Sussex. "The Oxford registers do not supply his father's name, and the family occurs in many counties and in many forms, such as Wikes, Wylkes, Weekes, Wyckes, and other variations. A Richard Wilkes (d. 1556) was master of Christ's College, Cambridge, from 1548 to 1553; a Thomas Wilkes represented Chippenham in the Reformation parliament of 1529-1535, and another Thomas Wilkes, haberdasher, of London, was fined 200l...
Another 176 words (13 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Wilck Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Wilck family

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Wilck arrived in North America very early: Thomas Wilkes, who came to Virginia in 1653; William Wilkes who arrived in Virginia in 1654; Elizabeth Wilkes, who settled in New England in 1745; and Joseph Wilkes, who came to Maryland in 1776..