Woulfe briefly describes this as a rare west Ulster name, but in fact it is still fairly numerous in Counties Tyrone and Derry and was formerly quite common there as the Hearth Money Rolls, diocesan wills etc.

attest: in the 1659-60 “census” MacPeake appears as one of the principal Irish surnames in the barony of Loughinsholin, i.e. the part of Co. Derry adjoining Co. Tyrone. Their association with north Ulster is also perpetuated in the place name Ballymacpeake in the same barony. The long list of Ulstermen who followed Rory O'Donnell to Connacht in 1603 includes two MacPeakes, Dermot and Manus; Owen Callowe MacPeake and Owyne Peake, yeomen, Irishmen who received “pardons” about the same time, were from the Co. Tyrone area. It must also be remembered that the records show that there were quite a number of Peakes (without the prefix Mac) in other parts of Ireland whose origin was different: there is an English name Peake of the toponymic type and derived from the word peak (hill). Probably Philip Peake, Marshall of the Four Courts in 1655 was of this stock. The MacPeake family of Belfast are notable for their activities in the field of Irish traditional music.

Mac Péice (W) The prefix Mac is always retained in its homeland, Cos. Derry and Tyrone. Elsewhere, without the Mac, it can be of English origin. SIF 122