WAKE. Much discrepancy exists among genealogists as to the origin of this name and family. The baronet's family claim from Hugh "Wac, lord of Wilesford, co. Lincoln, temp. Henry I., whose line ended with that Lord Wake, whose sister and heiress married Eduiund of Woodstock, a younger son of Edward I. From other authorities it would appear that tliey spring from Hereward le Wake, who flourished under the Confessor. Archbishop Wake, who wrote a short account of his ancestr}', disowns the Norman derivation, and thinks the name Le Wake, or fJie Watchful, a title given to Hereward, to describe his chai'acter as a skilful military commander. See N. and Q., 2ud S. vi. passim. The name Wake occurs in some copies of the so-called Battel-Abbey Roll.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.