Although this is a name rarely recorded in England, it has been there for at least four hundred years. It is a patronymic form of the original Roman (Latin) personal name "Dominicus" or the later French "Dominique", and achieved great popularity in its early form as a result of St. Dominicus, the founder of the famous order of monks. There are believed to be at least one hundred and fifty variants of the name, these range from Demange (France) to Maginot (France) to Dominigasso (Italy). In England, the early spellings include Dommes(son), Domsch(son), Domese(son), whilst the modern surname "Damerin" is another diminutive variant form Domes plus "kin". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Dommerson, which was dated January 25th 1597, married Elizabeth Gyles, at St. Giles Church, 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.