This interesting and unusual surname is a variant of Kyme, which is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is locational from two places so called in Lincolnshire. The placenames are derived from the Old English "cumb", a vessel, tub, and denoting a depression in the ground. Locational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, usually to seek work, and were best identified by the name of their bithplace. The placenames were first recorded as "Chime" and "Northchime" in the Domesday Book of 1086; the modern placenames are known as North Kyme and South Kyme. The modern surname can be found as Kyme and Kime. Amongst the sample recordings of namebearers in London are, Richard Kimm, the infant son of Abraham and Sarah Kimm was christened on September 16th 1810 at Sunbury on Thames, and one Mary Kimm married Robert Aldous on May 28th 1849 at Poplar. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Philip de Kyme, which was dated 1273, The Hundred Rolls of Lincolnshire, during the reign of King Edward 1, "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.