Flake
A likely nickname surname from Old English or Old Norse words for a flake, chip, or thin片-like piece.
The #7,676 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 71,370 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is probably from a nickname based on an old word for a flake, chip, or thin fragment, rather than from the modern verb "to flake." Nineteenth-century surname writers connected it with forms such as Old Norse and Old English words meaning a flake or thin plate. As with many short English surnames, the exact original sense is not certain, but it most likely referred to some physical likeness or characteristic.
History
The name appears in English and North American records, though the excerpts provided do not give a full origin story for the surname itself. Some 19th-century compilers grouped it with other surnames derived from weather or material nicknames, which fits the likely etymology. The surname is uncommon but established enough to have modern bearers in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One historical source notes a man known as Flakefield, showing how surnames could be expanded from an existing byname when families needed a way to distinguish themselves.
From the historical record
“E. spong; app. conn, with O.N. spSng, a flake, and E. Fris. spange, a thin plate] " One cottage and spong of ground in Desford aforesaid"— ie«c. Gloss., p. 252.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)