Origin of the Name Peak
The ancient history of the name Peak
was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives.
Over the centuries Surnames developed a wide number of variants. Different spellings of the same name can be traced back to an original root. Additionally when a bearer of a name emigrated it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books at their new location. Surnames were also often altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another.
Variants of the name Peak
include Peake, Peek, Peeke and MacPeake. This name can be of English and Irish origin. When of English origin it is derived from the ancient word 'peac' meaning a thickset or burly man. In Ireland this name is derived from the Gaelic MacPeice sept that was located in Counties Derry and Tyrone in Ulster Province in the very north of the country. A sept or clan was a collective term describing a group of persons whose immediate ancestors bore a common surname and inhabited the same territory. An early record of the name is found in the Hearth Money Rolls of 1659 where the name is noted as one of the principal Irish names in the Barony of Loughinsholin. Dermot and Manus MacPeake, who were of this sept, followed Rory O'Donnell, the last King of Tyrconnell, to Connacht in the year 1603. The MacPeake family of Belfast are notable for their activities in Irish traditional music. The placename Ballymacpeake perpetuates their family origin.
The Peak coat of arms came into existence centuries ago. The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms, including all Peak descendants.