Drake

An English surname transferred from the nickname, originally a byname from Old English draca or Old Norse draki, both meaning “dragon”.

Proper noun

  1. An English surname transferred from the nickname, originally a byname from Old English draca or Old Norse draki, both meaning “dragon”.

    1. Francis Drake (1540-1596), English sea captain, pirate, and explorer of the Elizabethan era.

  2. An Irish surname, anglicized from Drach, itself a Hiberno-Norman name English Drake.
  3. A male given name transferred from the surname.
    • Drake was not at all what I'd anticipated. His macho soap opera name had put me in mind of aristocrats or oversexed mallards. - 2004, Torey Hayden, chapter 4, in Twilight Children, HarperCollins UK, published 2013,...
  4. A locality in the Tenterfield council area, north eastern New South Wales, Australia.
  5. A village in Saskatchewan, Canada.
  6. A ward of Plymouth, Devon, England; named for aqueduct Drake's Leat, itself for Francis Drake, Mayor of Plymouth at the time of its construction.
  7. A locale in the United States.

    1. A city in North Dakota; named for early settler Herman Drake.

    2. An unincorporated community in Yavapai County, Arizona.

    3. An unincorporated community in Colorado.

    4. An unincorporated community in Illinois.

    5. An unincorporated community in Kentucky.

    6. An unincorporated community in Missouri; named for Missouri statesman Charles D. Drake.

    7. An unincorporated community in South Carolina.

Origin

* As an English surname, from both senses of the noun drake meaning "male duck" and "dragon." * As a German surname, from Low German drake (“dragon”), related to the above. * As a Dutch surname, Americanized/West Flemish variant of Draak, also related to the above.

Derived

Drakes Island Drake Village Sir Francis Drake Channel