Pike (surname)
| Pike | |
|---|---|
| Family name | |
| Meaning | pike (fish, weapon), turnpike |
| Region of origin | England |
| Language(s) of origin | English |
Pike is a common surname 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".[1]
Genealogists tracking the surname using DNA analysis have identified 46 "genetically different Pike family lines".[2] The surname has many variations such as Pikes, Pykes, McPike, Picke, Pique along with Speight.
Derivation
The origins of the name are not entirely clear. Individuals may have adopted the surname based on physical attributes resembling Pike (the fish), an association with Pike (the weapon), or a turnpike (one of the early meanings of which was a turning pike, a horizontal timber that was mounted so as to be able to spin or turn (such turnpikes apparently served as barriers to prevent horses from accessing foot paths, and in other instances to block passage until a toll had been paid). It has also been speculated that the name Pike might be derived in some instances from the word "peak", such as when somebody resided at the peak of a hill (note, for instance, the usage of the word "pike" in the name of Scafell Pike, England's highest mountain).
Notable people with the surname "Pike"
- Albert Pike (1809–1891), American attorney, soldier, writer, and Confederate general
- Alfred Pike (1917–2009), Canadian professional ice hockey player
- Austin F. Pike (1819–1886), United States senator
- Bob Pike (surfer) (1940–1999), Australian surfer
- Bob Pike (trainer) (born 1947), American business trainer, entrepreneur and author
- Bronwyn Pike (born 1956), Australian politician
- Burton Pike, professor of Comparative Literature
- Chris Pike (born 1961), Welsh footballer
- Christopher Pike (author), pseudonym of Kevin McFadden (born 1954), American writer
- Dave Pike (born 1938), American jazz musician
- Frank Pike (soccer), Canadian soccer player
- Geoff Pike (born 1958), English footballer
- Geoffry Morgan Pike (born 1929), Author and Cartoonist
- James Pike (1913–1969), American Episcopal bishop, Diocese of California
- James Pike (politician), American congressman
- James Shepherd Pike (1811–1882), journalist criticized for distorting Reconstruction era in South Carolina
- Israel Pike, American baseball player
- Jennifer Pike (born 1989), British violinist
- Jill Pike (born 1980), American radio personality
- Jim Pike, American singer
- John Pike (settler) (1613–1688/1689), settler in Newbury, Massachusetts
- Lt. John Pike, University of California Davis police department officer alleged to have used pepper spray on Occupy UC Davis protesters
- Jonathan Pike (born 1949), British architectural painter
- Kenneth L. Pike (1912–2000), American linguist and anthropologist
- Lip Pike (1845–1893), American star of 19th century baseball, 4x home run champion
- Liz Pike (Born 1960), American politician, Republican, in Washington state
- Dr. Magnus Pike (1908–1992), British scientist and TV personality
- Martin Pike (athlete) (1920–1997), British sprinter
- Martin Pike (English footballer) (born 1964), English footballer
- Martin Pike (Australian rules footballer) (born 1972), Australian rules footballer
- Matt Pike (Born 1972) American Guitarist and Vocalist
- Mervyn Pike (1918–2004), British politician
- Natalie Pike (born 1983), English model, winner of the Miss British Isles Competition in 2004
- Otis G. Pike (1921–2014), United States Democratic politician
- Patrice Pike, American musician
- Peter Pike (born 1937), British politician, Member of Parliament (−2005), member of the Labour Party
- Randy Pike (1953-2014), American politician
- Rob Pike (born 1956), Canadian software engineer, worked at Bell Labs as a member of the Unix team, now works for Google
- Robert Pike (settler) (1616–1706), settler in Newbury, Massachusetts
- Rosamund Pike (born 1979), British actress
- Samuel Pike (c. 1717 – 1773), English minister
- Theodore Pike (1904–1987), Irish colonial administrator and international rugby union player
- Thomas Pike (1906–1983), marshal of the Royal Air Force
- Victor Pike (1907–1986), Bishop of Sherborne and international rugby union player
- William Pike (−1591), Catholic martyr
- Zebulon Pike (1779–1813), American soldier and explorer for whom Pikes Peak is named
Fictional characters
- Pike (Buffyverse character), in the movie version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, played by Luke Perry
- Asa Pike, in the Children of the Red King novels
- Charles Pike, a ground skills teacher on The Ark who is elected chancellor of Arkadia, in season 3 of The 100
- Christopher Pike (Star Trek)
- Ernie Pike, in Argentinian comics novel, written by Hector German Oesterheld, drawn by Hugo Pratt
- Private Frank Pike, naive young bank clerk and Home Guard private in Dad's Army and It Sticks Out Half a Mile
- Joe Pike, Elvis Cole's partner in a series of private-eye novels by Robert Crais
- Wolfrider, pike-skilled male elf in the comic book Elfquest
References
- ↑ "Pike Surname Meaning". forebears.co.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2014
- ↑ "Pike Surname DNA Project". Retrieved 2009-03-12.