Recorded in various "modern" spellings including Aslin, Asling, Ashlin, Ashling, and Astling, this is a surname of pre 8th century Anglo-Saxon origins. It derives from the ancient German personal name"Azillin", introduced into Britain by the early invaders from Engaland and Friseland in Northern Germany. The meaning of the original name is not entirely clear, but it probably translates as "One" or "The One". Originally there was also a female form in "Asceline", and it is equally probable that some later surnames have developed from this spelling. The name is also unusual in that it seems to have "skipped" the period after the1066 Invasion, when for several centuries it became politically correct for English people who wished to get on under the Norman regime, to give their children French names. The name has also been recorded in two place names. These are the hamlets and farms known as Ashlyns and Ashlings, in High Ongar, Essex. The early examples of the surname recordings include Walterus de Acelini of Northampton, in the year 1206, Henricus Ascelinus of Warwickshire in the same period, and Richard Asselyn of Berkshire, in the Hundred Rolls of 1379. The first recording of the surname may be that of Acelina de Stanfelde in the Pipe Rolls of the county of Northampton in the year 1195. This was during the short reign of King Richard 1st, known as "The Lionheart", 1189 - 1199.

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