Recorded as Ailmond, Ailmund, Almond, Allmond, and others, this is an English surname, but one with three possible origins. Firstly it may the English name for someone from Germany. If so it is derived from the Norman French word 'alemayne', itself from the original German 'Alemannia, a tribal name of great antiquity. This name translates as 'All the men.' Secondly it can be locational from the region of Allemagne, to the south of Caen, in Normandy, named it is said, because in the pre 7th century many Germans settled there. The third origin is Olde English from the ancient personal name "Athelmund". This is composed of the elements "athel", meaning noble, and "mund", protection. There is no evidence of any connection with the almond nut or tree. The personal name was first recorded as Almund and Ailmundus in the Domesday Book of 1086, and the surname was first recorded in the late 13th Century (see below). William and Awdry Almond were some of the earliest settlers in the New World, leaving London on the ship "Abigall" in June 1635, bound for Virginia. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Ailmun. This was dated 1279, in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire, during the reign of King Edward 1st, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.