Lock
A surname with several possible roots: most often from a hair lock or a nickname, but sometimes linked to a lock, sluice, or place-name.
The #5,058 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 44,513 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Lock can come from Middle English and Old English words for a lock of hair, giving a nickname sense such as someone with a notable curl or tuft. Some historical surname writers also connect it with a gate, dam, or water-lock, and by extension with places near such features. In older scholarship it was sometimes linked to Old Norse Loki, but that explanation is not generally preferred today and is best treated cautiously.
History
Medieval records show forms such as Lock and Locke, and the name appears in English surname material very early. Descriptive nicknames like Blacklock, Goldlock, and Silverlock show that the "hair lock" sense was productive in surname formation. The spelling Locke is a close historical variant and in many cases the names were probably interchangeable.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Surname writers preserved several colorful nickname forms built on the same element, including Blacklock and Goldlock.
From the historical record
“lake. LOCK. See Locke. LOCKARD. Loch-Ard, a beautiful sheet of water near Ben Lomond in Scot- land. LOCKE. 1 . A place where rivers meet with a partial obstruction from a wooden dam. 2. The same as Loch. LOCKE. The Scandinavian god of mis- chief—the Evil Principle of the Northern”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom