A name stongly associated with Scotland but is actually of Norman ancestry from De dimesay, Pays de Caux, Rouen. The name first appears in Scotland in the early 12th Century but is not recorded in England until 1272 (Lindsey of Suffolk). Apparently members of the clan Mac Clintoch changed their name to Lindsey (for reasons unknown). There have been nearly two hundred variations of the spelling and one said to be from Lindsay in Linconshire was first found in the form of Lindissi, apparently a derivation of the British name of Lincolnshire. Andrew of Wyntoun referring to the origin of the family expresses a prudent uncertaintly, 'off Englande coyne de Lyndissay mare of baim I can noucht say'. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Sir Walter de Lindeseya, which was dated 1124, The See of Glasgow, during the reign of King David I, 1124 - 1153. 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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