Recorded as Huck, Hucke, Hugg, the diminutives Huckle, Huckell and Huggett, and the patronymics Hickells and Huggles, this ancient surname is English. It is said to derive from the early personal names Hucca or Uccak, themselves short forms of the even older name Uhtroed. This was a compound consisting of the elements "uht", meaning dawn plus "roed", power and similar to the Saxon-Germanic word "ric". Early examples of trhe surname recording taken from surviving rolls and registers of include Gamel filius Jucca in the register of the Knight Templars (Crusaders) for the county of Yorkshire in the year 1185, whilst Hucke (on its own) appears in the pipe rolls of the county of Norfolk in the year 1221. The surname adopted from this source is recorded in the late 13th century. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Hukke. This was dated 1279, in the Hundred Rolls of Huntingdonshire, during the reign of King Edward 1st, known as 'The Hammer of the Scots', 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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