From: Charles Drake
Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2001 2:24 PM

In order to answer this question, one must trace each family backto a time 
before surnames were hereditary, or before the surname Drake stuck in the 
particular family.  

The Drakes of Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and Devon derived their name from 
the manor of Drakenage in the parish of Kingsbury, Warwickshire, with which 
they were associated in the 12th Century.  Contrary to popular opinion, the 
Drakes in Devon did not get their namefrom "Drago the Saxon."  In the 
Domesday Book for Devon there is a Drogo, not a Drago, but Drogo is the old 
form of the name Drew.  Furthermore, it appears in Domesday as a forename, 
not a surname.  Drogo held land in Honiton, but the Drakes did not own land 
in that parish until centuries later.

It is thought that some Drakes in Yorkshire derived their name fromthe 
"draege" or "drege," a place where boats were portaged.  Some of the 
Yorkshire Drakes may have obtained their name from the Priory of Drax in the 
area.  The origin of the name in Essex and Norfolk is unknown to this writer. 

Other Drakes may have derived their name from "drake" for male duck,and some 
from "drake" as a variant of dragon.  Whether this was originally a nickname 
or a name based on a place, such as a location associated with dragon 
stories, like Drakenage, is not always known.    

References:  Anthony Richard Wagner, Drake in England; Charles E. Drake,
"The Origins of the Drakes of Devon", Genealogists' Magazine, June 2001.