Bakey - Name

Recorded as Baikie, Bachie, Bachey and Bakey, however spelt this is a rare Scottish surname. It is locational from an estate and manor known as "The lands of Baikie" in the County of Angus, although is much better known and recorded in the island of Orkney, where it has been prominent for several centuries. It is said that a John Baikie was the bailie of Kirkwall and on the "war committee" for the island in about 1643. It is often forgotten that the English Civil War of 1640 - 1660 was as much a "Scottish" war, although many of the reasons for unrest were quite different in the two countries. A later recording is that of Thomas Baikie or Bachie, who was the ordained minister of Kirkwall in 1697. The ultimate origin of the surname is open to some dispute. It may even have been French, and perhaps a transposition of the surnames Bauquier or Beaquier. Duke William of Normandy, who invaded England in 1066, had many ties with Scotland, and a large number of Norman-French knights were granted lands in Scotland particulary during the reign of King David 1st of Scotland, 1124 - 1153. Indeed it was reported in the 13th century that the French influence was so great, that the court of Scotland had adopted all French styles and fashions, and had quite lost any native culture.