Churms

This interesting and rare name is of early medieval English origin, and is a good example of that large group of English and European surnames that were originally bestowed as nicknames or bynames, and gradually became surnames through the continual use of the nickname. In this instance the nickname was acquired in the first place by someone considered to be 'noisy', a chatterbox. The derivation is from the Middle English term 'churme, chirme', noise, hubbub, sometimes birdsong, developed from the Old English pre 7th Century 'cierm', noise. The modern surname seems to have originated in Yorkshire, and can be found as Churm and Churms, the latter being the patronymic form, 'son of Churm'. Jessie, daughter of John Samuel and Mary Jane Churms, was christened at St. Mary's, Bury, in Lancashire, on January 30th 1870. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Ciurme, which was dated 1379, The Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire, during the reign of King Richard 11, 'Richard of Bordeaux', 1377-1399. 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.