Medlock
An English surname most likely tied to a place name, especially the Medlock area around Manchester or possibly Matlock in Derbyshire.
The #5,427 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 48,121 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is generally treated as a locational surname. One 19th-century source suggests it may come from Matlock in Derbyshire, while others connect it with the Medlock area near Manchester, including Chorlton-upon-Medlock. Because the historical sources do not agree, the exact place behind the surname is uncertain.
History
The surname appears in English surname dictionaries as a place-based name rather than a descriptive one. In modern use it is found in England and, through later migration, in the United States and other English-speaking countries. The Manchester place-name connection is especially plausible because Medlock is a well-known local river and district name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Chorlton-upon-Medlock is a historic district of Manchester that preserves the Medlock name in its place-name history.
From the historical record
“fashion. Eng. Surn. i. 205. MEDLOCK. Probably Matlock, co. Derby. A jjortiou of Manchester is, how- ever, called Chorlton-upon-Medlock. MEDWARD. The keeper of a meadow. Le Medward. H.R. A- Sax. m<ed and weard. MEDWIjST. The baptismal name is said to occur so early as the second century, in the story of King Lucius…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom