Trebilcock

Recorded as Trebilcock and Trebilcocke, this is a Cornish and English surname. It is, like the vast majority of Cornish surnames, locational, and in this case from a place called Trebiloc near the village of Roche. It is first recorded in the annals of the county in the year 1302. The place name and hence the later surname, is believed to mean 'The home on the cookoo's hill' from the Cornish medieval phrase 'tre-pyl-cok', although other explanations are possible. These include 'The place (tre) on a hill (pyl) haunted by cookoo's (cok),' or 'The place of the red-bill', which would probably be a reference to the Chough, a now extinct bird with a red bill like a crow, which was much associated with Cornwall. Given that there are at least three explanations for this name taken from separate sources, understanding and translating early Cornish is not an exact art! The surname is, like most Cornish surnames, still most popular in its native region, and can be found throughout the county. Early examples of taken from surviving church registers include Richard Trebilcocke of Perranzabuloe on June 16th 1576, and Nich Treblicock, a christening witness at Stithians on February 23rd 1695.