This unusual surname is of early medieval Germanic origin, and is a variant of the more familiar "Lamm, Lamb(b)", itself either an occupational name for a husbandryman who raised lambs, deriving from the Middle High German "lamp, lamm", lamb, or else a nickname for a meek, inoffensive person. Job-descriptive surnames initially denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. Nicknames, on the other hand, were originally given with reference to a variety of personal characteristics, such as physical attributes, moral qualities, and supposed resemblance to an animal's or bird's appearance or disposition. Occasionally, Lamb may have originated as a habitation name for someone who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of the pascal lamb. Early examples of the surname include: Godebolt zum Lamme (Mainz, 1305). On April 22nd 1680, anna Margaretha Lambuss and David Heinrich Wallenfels were married at Giessen, Oberhessen, Hessen, Germany, and in 1744, Catharina Sybilla Lambes married Johannes Meurer at Dienheim, Rheinhessen, Hessen. The marriage of Maria Catharina Lambis to Joes Petrus Graff took place at Blankenrath, Rheinland, on January 16th 1770. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Cunrad das Lamb, which was dated 1281, in "Medieval Records of Wurtt", Germany, during the reign of Rudolf 1 of Habsburg, 1273 - 1291. 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.