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Greetings,
The name "Kirk" derives from the Old Norse word "kirkja," meaning "church." "Kirk" is the Scots word for "church," but the word is also found in English areas once ruled by the Norse.
Because the name derives from a common word, it's impossible to trace the name to a single place of origin. English records record "Attekireke" in Lancashire, 1209 and "Attekirck" in Yorkshire, 1201. It is not likely that these people were related, and there are other examples. In Scotland the earliest citation of the name we found is 1436 but it's likely that the name is older than that.
Our sources were "The Surnames of Scotland" by George Black, and "The Dictionary of British Surnames" by P.H. Reaney. Josh Mittleman, Bob Koerner, Heather Jones, and Carolyn Boselli helped research your name.
In Service,
Alan Terlep