Lounds

This unusual and interesing name is of English origin and is locational from any of the three places so called in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Suffolk. The derivation is from the Olde Scandinavian "lundr", grove. The earliest recordings of the placename dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 and appears in the form Lund in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire and as Lunda in Suffolk. It became common during the Middle Ages for people to migrate to other places seeking work, and they would often adopt the name of their former village as a means of identification, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. In Winterton, Lincolnshire, on 11th April 1575 Jonie Lound married William Langton. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ursula Lound married Robert Walker, which was dated 20th May 1566 at Shelford, Nottinghamshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.