Dickey
Usually a surname that began as a pet form of Richard, though some older writers also tried to link it to local or place-based origins.
The #1,542 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 13,240 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Dickey is most likely from Dick, a familiar short form of the given name Richard, with the -ey ending creating a nickname-style surname. In older surname books it was sometimes treated as a "nursename" or pet form, though one writer also floated a local explanation tied to the "dike" or Roman wall. The nickname explanation is the safer and more widely accepted one; the place-based idea is best treated as speculative.
History
The name is well attested in Scotland and northern England and later appears in Irish records, especially among families who moved from Scotland into Ulster. Historical surname writers also list Dickey alongside many other Richard-based forms such as Dick, Dickson, Dixon, and Richie, showing how productive this name family was. In modern use, Dickey remains fairly uncommon but is established in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname compilations explicitly grouped Dickey with a large cluster of Richard-derived surnames, showing how many different spelling forms grew from the same given name.
From the historical record
“is probably local. DICKEY. This name might well be taken as one of the " nursenames" of Richard, but against this a correspondent strongly protests. Another, Imt rather An older form of Dickey, fanciful derivation, is from the " Clan of the Dike," or Roman Wall. (See, how- ever, Dykes in the dictionary.) A family”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom