Symonds

This typically East Anglican surname is derived from the Hebrew personal name "Shim' on" which is probably connected with the verb "sham'a" "to hearken". Coming from this the personal name "Simon" is found in the New Testament and was to give rise to numerous variants in all the countries of Europe. In England, variants were sometimes confused with the Anglo-Scandinavian "Sigmund" and its cognate Norman form "Simund". The surname Simund had already clearly emerged by the early 13th Century (see below). One Margery Simondes is noted in early Essex records for 1308. As the surname developed it was to include numerous variants such as Symonds, Symons, Simmons. George, son of John and Mary Symonds, was christened at Epping, Essex on June 10th 1622. Among the many famous Symonds to grace the pages of the "Dictionary of National Biography" was author and translator John Addington Symonds (1840 - 1893). The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Simund, which was dated 1222, in the "Curia Regis Rolls", Wiltshire, during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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.