Recorded in several spelling forms including Hellwing, Helwing, Helwig, Hellwig, Helwich, etc. this is a surname of pre Medieval 7th century German origins. Curiously it started out life in ancient history as the baptismal name, Hell-wig. This translates as "Battle-battle", which today one would regard as an unusual name for a child! In the "Dark Ages", this being the period after the fall of the Roman Empire in 410 a.d. until the arrival of the Emperor Charlemagne in the 9th century, it became the practise to call ones chiuldren by names which extolled power, or religion, or glory, perhpa in the hope, if not anticipation of the child's life. On this basis no doubt "Battle-battle" would have seemed quite appropriate at a time in history when all rule had broken down, and survival lay only with the sword. The surname is much later, being 13th century at least, and in hereditary form, perhaps later still. Early examples of the surname recordings taken from authentic rolls and charters of the period include Blasius Helving, who married Sabina Jonigken at Klingerswalde, Ostpreussen, Germany, in 1636, and Anna Catharina Hellwing, who married Johannes Zimmer at Breidenoach, Oberhessen, on May 10th 1801. The first recording in any form is probably that of Heinricus Helwig of the town of Wimpfen, Germany, in the year 1292.

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