This is not quite so obvious a name as it might appear, since its origins are Germanic, from the tribe of "Angles" who invaded the Eastern and Northern counties of Britain in the 5th and 6th Centuries, and thereby gave their name to "England", Olde English pre 7th Century "Englaland". The Olde English word "Englisc" was first used to distinguish Angles from Saxons, but by the time surnames were being created it distinguished the "Englishman" as opposed to the native Celt in areas such as the Welsh border counties and Scotland. After 1066 "Englisc" served to mark the official distinction between the "Angli" and the "Franki", the native defeated English and the conquering Normans, which would account for the name being found throughout the country. The modern surname can be found in a variety of forms, ranging from English, England, Angliss, Anglish and Angless, to Anglish, and the Scottish Inglis and Inglish. Recordings from London Church Registers include the marriage of Martha Angliss and Edward Keep on April 24th 1793, at St. Martin in the Fields. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Nicolaus Angleis, which was dated circa 1200, in "Early Charters of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul", London, during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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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