This interesting and unusual surname is of Old Norman French origin, and derives from the Old French personal name "Ame", from the Old French "ami", friend, or the Latin "Amatus", meaning beloved, from "amare", to love. Variants of the surname found in the modern idiom include Amy, Amie, L'Amie and Lamey. The name was introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. The personal name appears in 1198 in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire as "Amia". The surname itself first appears in records in the early 13th Century (see below), while other early examples include William Ame, in the Assize Court Rolls of Essex (1248); William Lamy, in the Hundred Rolls of London (1275); and William le Amy in the "Calendar of Letter Books of the City of London" (1282). Susan Amy married Michael Glasshawes on November 1st 1559, at Tonbridge, in Kent, while Marie Amey married William Usburne on May 1st 1580, at Maidstone, Kent. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Amy, which was dated 1219, witness in the "Assize Court Rolls of Yorkshire", 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.

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