Lickiss Family History

This name originates from the Middle Welsh personal name L(l)ucas (see Lucas), pronounced /ɬɨkas/. It is unclear whether this is the sole origin of modern Lickiss or an alternative to the suggested locative explanation in (ii). If there are two different sources for the name, they have become confused in pronunciation and spelling.

Perhaps the name is derived from Lickhurst in Whalley parish (Lancs), which is recorded as Lekehirste in 1462 and Lykehurst in 1527. The place-name likely denoted a wooded hill (Old English hyrst) where wild leek (Old English lēac) grows. The surname Lickas in Whalley (1567) appears to be an otherwise unrecorded colloquial pronunciation of Lickhurst.

The 1743 spelling Lickhurst indicates that it was perceived as such at a later date. However, in the absence of any medieval spellings to support the suggested locative surname, this remains conjectural. All the available medieval evidence points to (i) as the source of the surname.

For the later alteration of Lycas to Lickhurst, influenced by the place-name, we can compare Luckhurst as a folk-etymological variant of Lucas in Sussex.