Hicks History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of Hicks

What does the name Hicks mean?

The origins of the name Hicks are from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It is derived from the son of Richard. 1 In Old English, patronyms were formed by adding a variety of suffixes to personal names, which changed over time and from place to place. For example, after the Norman Conquest, sunu and sune, which meant son, were the most common patronymic suffixes. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the most common patronymic names included the word filius, which meant son. By the 14th century, the suffix son had replaced these earlier versions. Surnames that were formed with filius or son were more common in the north of England and it was here that the number of individuals without surnames was greatest at this time.

Early Origins of the Hicks family

The surname Hicks was first found in Yorkshire, where one of the first records of the name was found as a forename as Hikke de Sauteby who was listed there in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273. 1 “The chancel [of Low Leyton in Essex] contains some elegant monuments of the family of Hickes.” 2

Early English rolls provide us a glimpse of the spelling variations used through Medieval times. Today we typically need to look beyond the spellings of these entries and concentrate on the phonetic appreciation of the names. The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 included: Hikke de Sauteby; Johanna Hickson; Henricas Hikson; Willelmus Hykson. 1

Again in Yorkshire, Richard Hick was registered there in the Subsidy Rolls for 1302 and later, William Hickys was listed in the Subsidy Rolls for Warwickshire in 1332. 3

Much farther to the south in the parish of St. Ewe in Cornwall, another branch of the family was found. “The manor of Tregain belonged formerly to an ancient family of the same name: in which place they resided until they removed to Golden in Probus; after which it was forfeited in the reign of Elizabeth. When the manor was dismembered, the barton became the property of Hicks, who possessed also the barton of Trevithick in this parish. At this latter place a mansion was erected by this family, in which they continued to reside until the death of John Hicks, Esquire, in 1734, in whom this branch of the family ended.” 4