Spikes
A surname most likely tied to spikes or spiked objects, probably as an occupational or descriptive nickname.
The #7,265 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 67,323 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is probably from the common English word spike, pluralized as Spikes, and may have begun as a nickname or as an occupational name for someone who made, used, or handled spikes or spiked implements. The historical excerpts also point to related surnames built from the same idea, such as names connected with nails or other pointed hardware. Because the surviving evidence here is sparse, the exact pathway is not certain.
History
Spikes is a relatively uncommon surname, and the historical material does not give a single definitive origin story for it. In American surname lists, it appears alongside other hardware-based names, which supports a craftsman or trade association. It may also have arisen as a shortened or altered form of a similar English name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same sharp-pointed word that gives this surname its likely meaning also appears in old military history, where spikes were used on caltrops to stop horses.
From the historical record
“ordeal of being ducked in the Curragh-glass are said to have been formerly rolled in barrels with spikes inside. This process would certainly kill them. There is also Creg-y-Whuallian, * Crag of the Whelp;' Lhergy - Awhallan (Aah- Whuallin), ' Whelp's Ford Slope ;' and Awhal- lan, * Whelp's Ford.' Goayr (F), ' a…”
— The Surnames & Place-Names of the Isle of Man