Messick
A surname most likely from a shortened or altered form of a medieval personal name, though its exact origin is uncertain.
The #5,404 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 47,934 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Messick is best treated as an uncertain English surname of likely nickname or patronymic origin. It may reflect a reduced form of a personal name or an altered spelling shaped by local pronunciation and record-keeping, rather than a transparent word with a single clear meaning. Because the name is not well documented in the standard old surname dictionaries, a precise literal sense cannot be given with confidence.
History
The surname appears chiefly in English-speaking records and is now found especially in the United States. As with many less common surnames, its present form may represent a later spelling stabilization of an older name that varied in parish and census records. Genealogical evidence often shows such names becoming fixed only after families moved and clerks standardized spellings.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Surnames of uncertain origin are common enough that even well-studied family names can resist a single neat explanation for centuries.