This name is a personal one, from the German "Baldo" meaning bold, lively, or abandoned and might have been given to a particularly fearless and carefree soldier. We also see the Olde German patronymic "ing" ending here. Thus we find an early entry listed in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1212 for the personal name Gilbertus filius (son of) Balding. This is later adopted to become a surname as found in a 1255 entry (see below). There are three variants of this name listed under Balding, Belding, Bolding and Boulding. One Robert Belyng is recorded in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1332 and Ann Balding was christened on the 20th January 1708 at London Street, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Bolding, which was dated 1255 - in the Hundred Rolls of Shropshire, 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.