This unusual name is one of the German diminutive forms of the personal name "Henry" which derives from a Germanic personal name "Heinnich", composed of the elements "haim" or "heim", home with "ric", meaning "power". The name was introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066 as "Henn", and was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 in its Latin form of "Hennicus". The name was enormously popular in England and on the Continent throughout the Middle Ages and generated a great number and variety of variants forms such as in England, Henn, Herriott, Haw and Harris and in Germany, from "Heinrich", Henie, Heinz, and Hendrichs. The marriage of Henrietta Heinz and Rowland Lindsay was recorded on the 10th February 1848 at All Souls, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ann Heintz, christened, which was dated 9th July 1679, St. Botolph without Aldersgate, London, during the reign of King Charles II, The Merry Monarch, 1660 - 1685. 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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