The Art of Literary Nomenclature

ORIGIN:
One of those “last names as first names” that were once a quite popular way for a mother’s maiden name to be passed on to her sons, “Hook” was an Old English surname given to one who lived or worked near a hook, or bend, in a river, or to one who made hooks for a living.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Hooke, Hooker, Hookes, Huck, Hucks, Huke, Hukes, Hocke, Hockes, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mr. Hook Eagles, whose wife befriends Becky during her years of exile, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

Tagged: 1810s, 1820s, 1840s, English, H