Meaning of Last Name

Meaning: pike (fish, weapon), turnpike

Pike is a common family name of English origin. In the United States, Pike is the 1138th most common surname (based on the 1990 census). In England and Wales, it is the 513th most common surname (based on a Sept 2002 database of the Office for National Statistics). In Newfoundland, Pike is especially common, ranking 22nd among all surnames there (based on the 1955 voters list, as reported by E.R. Seary in "Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland"). At the time of the British Census of 1881, its relative frequency was highest in Wiltshire (7.3 times the British average), followed by Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, Hampshire, Nottinghamshire, Gloucestershire, the Channel Islands and Surrey. It is interesting to note that the area of highest relative frequency corresponds roughly to the ancient Kingdom of Wessex and that the first six counties of highest relative frequency are totally identical with Thomas Hardy's Wessex. Pike may thus with good reason be characterized as a "Wessex name". Genealogists tracking the surname using DNA analysis have identified 46 "genetically different Pike family lines". The surname has many variations such as Pikes, Pykes, McPike, Picke, Pique along with Speight.