This interesting surname of English origin with variant spellings Hearne, Hern, Herne, Hurn, Hurne, Harn, etc. is a topographical name for someone who lived by a bend in a river or in a recess in a hill, deriving from the Middle English "herne" Olde English pre 7th Century "hyrne", meaning "corner, angle". It may also be a locational name from any of the various places, such as Herne in Kent and Hurn in Dorset, deriving from the Olde English "hyrne". The surname dates back to the early 13th Century (see below). Further recordings include one Walter Atehurne (1269), the Assize Court Rolls of Somerset, and Henry en le Hurne (1279) the Hundred Rolls of Buckinghamshire. Church Recordings include one Alice, daughter of Robertt and Elizabeth Hurne, who was christened on November 10th 1639, at St. Bride's, Fleet Street, London, and Mary Hurne married William Crossland in 1773, at St. George's, Hanover Square, London. One Ann Hurn married John Modcraft on November 25th 1793, in London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Gunnora de la Hurn, which was dated 1212, in the "Curia Regis Rolls of Hampshire", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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.