THE SURNAME PURROCK.

The surname "Purrock" has been on record in Scotland from century 1204, occurring in thirteenth to sixteenth-century spellings as Purrok, Purroc, Purroch, Purro and Pyrrok. Since it corresponds to no known place or personal name, nor to any attested term in the English or Scots lexicon, its etymology is considered to be obscure. There are two possible explanations for the development of the surname. On the one hand it may have been coined during the medieval period as a nick name for someone whose physiognomy resembled that of the bird. On the other it may derive from an unattested old English byname.