This interesting surname is of French origin, and is from the Old French given name or nickname "Amis", meaning friend, from the Latin "amicus", a derivative or "amare", to love. The surname was probably introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. The modern surname can be found as Lamy, Ami, Amy, L'Amie and Lamey; Lamy and Lamey being forms with the fused preposition "le, la". The English cognomens include, Amis(s) and Am(i)es and the English form of the surname was first recorded as Robert Amis in Suffolk, in 1221. Lamy was first recorded in the Hundred Rolls of London in 1275 as "William Lamy". The marriage was recorded in France of Antoine Lamy and Francoise Debrod on January 11th 1752 at Meurthe-et-Moselle, Blenod-Les-Pont-A-Mousson, and in London one Anthony Lamy married Esther Chevalay on August 16th 1763 at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Amy, which was dated 1219, The Assize Rolls of Yorkshire, during the reign of King Henry 111, "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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.