Leak History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of Leak

What does the name Leak mean?

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

In the East Midlands region with a long coast line on the North Sea, Lincolnshire borders Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire and the shortest county boundary of Northamptonshire of only 20 yards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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