Wococon & Wokokon

The earliest known spellings of Ocracoke ("Wococon" and "Wokokon") are found on 1585 maps drawn by John White, who was among those who sailed from England to America as a member of Sir Walter Raleigh's expeditions.

Roger Payne, in his book, Place Names of the Outer Banks, speculates that Wococon could be a tortured  Anglicization of the Algonquian word "waxihikami" which means "enclosed place, fort, or stockade." (See our post on June 10, 2016).

Historian David Stick has a different explanation.  When Walter Raleigh's expedition set foot on Ocracoke in 1584, the explorers reportedly asked the natives they encountered what the name of their country was.  In reply the Indians answered "Wingandacon," which Stick believes became "Wococon."  In truth, the actual reply was "You wear good clothes." 

Over the years I knew I had seen a dozen or more different spellings for the present-day Ocracoke Island.  Curious, in 2003 I decided to compile a list of all the variations I could document. Ultimately I discovered more than fifty distinct names and/or spellings for Ocracoke.

The following chart lists eighteen different spellings (highlighted in yellow), as well as a number of duplicates, from a series of early maps and other documents.  The earliest record of the current "Ocracoke" that I could find was on a map dated 1852.

Date	Name	Document	Author
1585	Wococon	map	John White
1585	Wokokon	map	John White
1590	Wokokon	map	White - De Bry
1606	Wococon	map	Mercator - Hondius
1657	Wococock	map	Nicholaus Comberford
1665	Wococock	survey	T. Woodward
1665	Wococon	survey	T. Woodward
1672	Okok	map	Ogilby
1675	Okok	map	John Speed
1682	Wosoton	map	Joel Gascoyne & Robert Greene
1689	Wossoton	map	John Thorton & Will Fisher
1706	Wocoton	map	Johannes Loots
1709	Ocacok	map	John Lawson
1715	Occacock	an act of the assembly	NC Assembly
1715	Occacoke	map	Henry Mouzon
1717	Occeh	letter	Gov. Spotswood
1718	Occocock	account of capture of Blackbeard
1732	Ocacock	document/letter	Capt. Burrington
1733	Ocacock	map	Edward Moseley
1733	Ocreecock	deed	Richard Sanderson
1733	Oakerccok	map	James Wimble
1738	Okerccok	map	James Wimble
1770	Occacock	map	John Collet
1775	Occacoke	map	Henry Mouzon
1795	Occacock	map/description	Jonathan Price
1808	Occacock	map	Price - John Strother
1821	Ocracock	map	Leut. Strong
1833	Ocracock	map	Mac Rae - Brazier
1834	Occacock	map	H.S. Tanner
1852	Ocracoke	map	A.D. Bache
1861	Occacock	map	J.H. Colton
1861	Ocracoke	map	Bachman

In addition to the spellings listed above, I located  the following 34 variations mentioned in different books and pamphlets, although no sources were indicated.  These do not include other names by which Ocracoke was sometimes known, such as Pilot Town, Port Bath, Port Grenvil, and Gordons Ile.

Woccon	Oecceh	Woston
Woccocon	Okcrecock	Oa Cock
Woccocock	Okerecock	Oakocock
Occacoe	Woccock	Occacode
Ococock	Wococan	Ocrecok
Occek	Ocacok	Ocacoc
Oakacock	Ocraacocke	Sequotan
Oacock	Ocracook	Vokoton
Ocock	Okerecok	Woccock
Okercock	Onoconon	Wocotan
Ocrecock	Wakokon	Wosotan
	Wocoken

One of the more enduring early spellings was "Occacock."

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is the dramatic story of life-saver Rasmus Midgett and his rescue of the crew of the barkentine Priscilla in August, 1899. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052116.htm.