This most interesting surname is an occupational name for a "servant of Lambie or Lambin", which are early medieval personal names deriving from the Olde English pre 7th Century word "lamb", lamb, or from a shortened form of the Old German personal name "Lambert", plus the Olde English "mann", man, servant. The former may have been an affectionate nickname from the animal or a metonymic occupational name for a keeper of lambs. The personal name, also found in Old French, is composed of the Germanic elements "land", territory, land, plus "berht", bright, famous, and was introduced to England by the Normans and by Flemish weavers in the Middle Ages.The surname itself dates from the mid 15th Century (see below) in Yorkshire, and Richard Lambeyman was recorded in 1521 in the Register of the Guild of the Corpus Christi in the City of York. The Register of the Freemen of York record a John Lamyman in 1525. On September 27th 1551, John Lamyman married Johan Smith at St. Leonard's, Eastcheap, London, while James, son of Joseph and Mary Lammiman, was christened on April 28th 1734 at St. Katherine by the Tower, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alexander Lamaman, which was dated 1463, in the "Register of the Freemen of York, during the reign of King Edward 1V, known as "The Self Proclaimed King", 1461 - 1483. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
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