by Jim Young (guest)
12/10/2008, 6:02 AM
In Dutch surnames the "Ten" component is indicative of a locative name, "at the". The second component is problematic. I can't find a word like jek, jeck or jeek. As the name has passed from the Dutch into the English language it is likely to have become garbled. I'd suggest, tentatively, Ten Eik, "at the oak", meaning someone whose residence is near a prominent oak tree. This is not, however, a current Dutch surname.