Probably a quarter of English names have strong Saxon or later Germanic influences; Harm and its variant forms Harms, Harmes and Harman comes into these categories. It may be a derivative of the original pre 7th Century personal name "Heremar", a compound which translates as "Army-Famous" and shown in the first recording "Heremerus de La Bolde", 1176, The Pipe Rolls of Stafford, or the name can be locational and derive from the town of Harms in Germany and may then be associated with the Huguenot or "Flemish Weaver" immigrants of the late Middle Ages. The marriage of Henry Harm and Barbara Child was recorded at All Hallows, London Wall, on September 15th 1650, and Ann Harm was christened on July 4th 1675 at St. Dunstan's, Stepney. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Francisca Harme (marriage to Allen Turner), which was dated October 24th 1591, at St. Martin in the Fields, 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.

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