Pike
An English surname that most likely began as a nickname or place-name for someone associated with a point, spear, or pointed hill.
The #1,318 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 11,583 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually linked to Old English pic, meaning a point or spike, which could name a sharp weapon, a pointed hill, or a pointed piece of land. It may also have arisen as a nickname for someone associated with a pike spear, and some older writers included a fish-based explanation as well. The core idea in the historical sources is “something pointed,” whether in landscape or in weaponry.
History
The name is well established in England and appears in medieval records as a local or descriptive surname. Some 19th-century authorities preferred a topographic explanation, while others thought the weapon sense was more likely, so the exact original motivation is not always certain. Over time Pike spread beyond England through migration, and it remains a familiar surname in the English-speaking world.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same old word behind Pike also helped produce related surnames such as Peak and Pick.
From the historical record
“PIGHILLS, V. under Pickles. PIKE (EngO I Dweller at a Pointed Hill ; also a Pointed Piece of Land, a Gore [M.E.pike; O.E. pic, a point, pike] 2 a nickname from the vyeapon, also the fish, so called [same etymology] , , 3 Dweller at a Turnpike [same etymo- logy] See Peak(e and Pick.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)