This interesting surname of English origin is either a locational name from any of various places called Clipstone in Bedfordshire, Norfolk, Nottinghamshire or Clipston in Northamptonshire, deriving from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name Clip, plus "tun" "settlement", "enclosure", or, it may be a patronymic from a diminutive of the Middle English, Old French Clement, itself deriving from the Latin "Clements" meaning "Merciful". The surname dates back to the late 16th Century, (see below). Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Clempson, Climpson, Clipston, Clipstone, etc.. One, Agnes Clypson married Richard Pyckarne at St. Mary Magdalene, Old Fish St., London, on May 5th 1560. Katherin Clipson married Robert Bonnyngton at Tottenham on January 22nd 1586, and William Clipson married Ann Aborn on May 9th 1619, at St. Olave, Hart St. London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Clympson married Bridget Coxwood, which was dated 1576, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.