SekuĊa was probably derived from the Latin soecula (centuries, ages) as in the prayer: Per omnia soecula soeculorum (translated in English as world without end, literally: over all the ages of ages). There were cases where fragments of Latin prayers (Vobis, Meus, Dominus) served as nicknames for people associated with the parish (sexton, sacristan, bell-ringer) and these eventually evolved into surnames.