Although this name appears to be of continental origins, this is almost certainly not the case. The "modern" spelling is a derived form of the habitational Dommelow, Dummellow or Dumilow, from the Old Welsh pre 7th Century "du" meaning "black" plus "moel" a "bare hill", to which has been added the Old English "Hlaw", which also translates as "hill". The site of such a place is now apparently "lost", being one of an estimated seven thousand such sites. The name recordings in the modern idiom are specific to Nottinghamshire, these include Ann Dummelow who married Peter Hemsley at Stanford upon Soar on October 17th 1732, whilst on November 4th 1783. Ann Domleo married one William Redfern at St. Michaels, Sutton Bonnington, Nottinghamshire, this church being the apparent "home" of the name recordings. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Domelaw, which was dated May 13th 1583, who married Christian Chatterton at St. Peters, Cornhill, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "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.