Puck
late 19th century: of unknown origin.
wiktionary
From Middle English puke, from Old English pūca(“goblin, demon”), from Proto-Germanic *pūkô(“a goblin, spook”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pāug(')-(“brilliance, spectre”). Cognate with Old Norse púki(“devil”) (dialectal Swedish puke), Middle Low German spōk, spūk(“apparition, ghost”), German Spuk(“a haunting”). Doublet of pooka. More at spook.
From or influenced by Irish poc(“stroke in hurling, bag”). Compare poke (1861).
From the Irish poc(“male adult goat, billy goat”). Doublet of buck.
Blend of pike + tuck
etymonline
puck (n.)
"ice hockey disk," by 1891, of uncertain origin, possibly from puck (v.) "to hit, strike" (1861), which perhaps is related to poke (v.) via notion of "push." Another suggestion traces the noun to Irish poc "bag."
The bone of contention between the contending sides is called the puck, and is a circular piece of vulcanized rubber one inch thick all through and three inches in diameter. ["The Game of Rink Hockey," in Harper's Young People, Feb. 3, 1891]
Puck
name of the mischievous fairy in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," in 16c. the name of a fairy of high repute (his disguised name was Robin Goodfellow or Friar Rush), also generally, "an elf, fairy, or sprite;" probably from Middle English pouke "devil, evil spirit" (c. 1300; early 13c. in place-names), from Old English puca, pucel "goblin," which is cognate with Old Norse puki "devil, fiend," a word of unknown origin (compare pug). Celtic origins also have been proposed.
