This interesting and unusual name is a dialectal variant of "Faulkner, Falconer", found in England and Scotland and which derives from the old French word "Fau(l)connier" meaning "one who hunts with falcons or follows hawking as a sport". It may also denote a keeper or trainer of hawks, for the use of the Lord of the manor, which was a common feudal service. It may also have been given to someone who operated the siege gun known as a "falcon". The surname first appears in England in the late 12th Century (see below), while one "Matheus, the Falconer" was one of the witnesses to a charter by Earl David in Scotland, circa 1202. One Henry le Fauconer was recorded in the Assize Court Rolls of Yorkshire in 1219. The Church Register of Lincolnshire records the christening of one William Falkender, son of William and Ann Falkender in 1696 at Burgh-le-Marsh; and the marriage of John Falkinder to Sarah Searby at Burgh-le-Marsh on April 30th 1762. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry Falkenar, which was dated 1194, The Curia Rolls of Wiltshire, during the reign of King William 11, "Rufus", 1087 - 1100. 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.