COKE. Lat. coquus, cocus, a cook. In the rude old ages when family surnames began, the chief officers of the kitchens of kings and great men were persons of importance. For example, in Domesday we find several Coci, some of whom were tenants in capite, and one is expressly named " Coquus quidara Eegis." The orthography coh-c, for cook, is retained by Chaucer ; and in the family of the Earl of Leicester, illustrious for its great lawyer and its great agriculturist, it still exists. In most cases, however, it has taken the form of Cook.

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