This curious surname, recorded in church registers of Yorkshire from the late 16th Century under the variant spellings Kettlestringe(s), Kettlesing, Kettlesting etc., is of locational origin from a place in the Yorkshire West Riding called Kettlesing. Recorded as Ketilstringe in "Memorials of the Abbey of Fountains", dated 1446-1458, and as Kettyllsynge in "Knaresborough Wills Records", dated 1546, the place was so called from the Old Norse personal name Ketil meaning "cauldron", plus the Old Scandinavian "strengr", literally meaning "string", but used here in a transferred sense to describe a small vein of lead or narrow vein or ore; hence, "Ketil's string". In 1575, Grorgius Kettelsinge, an infant, was christened in Ripon, and on December 4th 1576 Johanna, daughter of Georgij Kettelstryng, was christened there also. The christening of Christiana Kettylsting took place in Ripon on May 31st 1580, and on January 30th 1596, Cilbert Kettlestring and Hellen Mo were married in Aldborough near York. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Francisca Kettlestringes, (christening), which was dated June 20th 1574, in Ripon, Yorkshire, 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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