Stock

Etymology

The surname Stock most likely comes from an old word for a tree stump, trunk, or log, from Old English stoc(c) and related Old Norse stokkr. In surname use, it could describe someone who lived by a notable stump, post, or pillory, or someone from a place called Stock. Some early writers also treated it as a topographic name tied to enclosures or settlements containing this element.

History

The name is well established in medieval English records, with forms such as de la Stocke appearing in the 13th century. It also survives in many English place-names, which helped create locative surnames like Stockdale, Stockham, and Stocken. Later surname dictionaries sometimes hesitated over whether the root sense was a natural feature or a place-name, so the exact origin can vary by family line.

Origin

Regions

Variant spellings

Fun fact

The same old root behind Stock also appears in place-names and compound surnames, including Stockdale, which literally means something like "tree-stump valley."

Related surnames