by Jim Young (guest)
4/9/2009, 12:01 PM
In my opinion this derives from a place name, though no similar name seems to have survived to the present day.
I'm basing this on surnames with the same ending, such as Bricknell, Bucknell, from place names which now take the form Brignall and (possibly) Bucknall. 14th century notices of these surnames give the forms de Brigenhale and de Buckenhalle. It's noteworthy that there was a family in Staffordshire (Rowley) in the 14th century known by the name de Tockenhale. The preposition de, meaning 'of' supports the suggestion that Tockenhale is a place name. The meaning may be "Toca's nook", Toca being the Old English personal name found in place names such as Tockenham and Tockington.
All speculation.