Mock
Mock is usually an English surname from a nickname or from shortened forms related to personal names like Mogg.
The #2,301 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 19,483 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Mock is likely from a short nickname form, especially a sharpened or reduced form of the old personal-name family around Mogg/Moggy, rather than from the modern word "mock" in the sense of ridicule. Some 19th-century writers also treated it as a surname that could arise by contraction from longer forms such as Mogson or Moxon-like patterns. In short, its roots are best understood as nickname-based and tied to medieval personal naming practices.
History
The surname appears in early modern English records and later survives as a relatively uncommon family name. Because the documentary evidence is sparse and the spelling is close to several other short surname forms, its exact line of descent is not always certain. The name is most securely discussed by onomastic writers as part of the wider Mogg/Moxon cluster.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century etymologist suggested Mock could be a tightened nickname form, the same sort of shortening seen in pairs like Jack from longer forms.
From the historical record
“i6i6. Henry Aiklcy and BIIl Dim- mock : Maitiage Lie. (London!, ii.41-. ibid. p. 65. London, o. 1 : MDa (Lincoln), i, o: New York, 1, o : Philadelphia, o, i.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances