This interesting name is of Norman origin, introduced into England after the Conquest of 1066 as the personal name "Durant", it is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Durandus", and derives from the Olde French "durant" meaning "enduring", from "durer", to endure, last, itself from the Latin "durus", hard, firm. As a personal name Durant and Durand were popular in the Middle Ages, recorded in the Middle Ages, recorded as "Durand" in 1115, Hampshire, "Doraunt" (1312, Yorkshire), and taken to mean "steadfast", and perhaps "obstinate". The modern surname can be found in at least thirteen different forms, ranging from Durant, Durand, Durrant and Durrand to Dorant, Dorran and Dorrins. One Nathan Durant was an early settler in the West Indies, he is recorded as a land-owner in the Barbadoes in 1678. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter Durand, which was dated 1196, in the "Pipe Rolls of Westmoreland", during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "The Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. 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.