Locke, derived from the Middle English word 'loke', originally referred to someone who lived near a lock on a river. It is of Anglo-Saxon origin and means "at the hollow by the brook." This name gained popularity during the Victorian era in England but remains relatively uncommon today. It is often associated with John Locke, the influential 17th-century English philosopher known for his works on natural rights and social contract theory.
The name Locke experienced a significant surge in popularity around the late 2000s to mid-2010s, with a noticeable spike from 28 births in 2009 to 67 births in 2014. However, it seems to have stabilized or slightly decreased since then, with numbers ranging between 46 and 65 births per year from 2015 to 2023. Overall, there were a total of 943 births named Locke from 1916 to 2023.