This very interesting name is part of a category of nickname surnames all associated with the Poll Tax period Circa 1300 AD. The derivation is from the French 'Lange'Bain' and the name would have been given to a particularly tall person of distinctive appearance. The name is found in America as Longbine, although the claimed origin is German, which does not seem correct. First recorded in Lancashire, similar descriptive nicknames are Cruckshank and Shorthouse. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walker Le Longbak which was dated 1332, The Pipe Rolls of Lancashire during the reign of King Edward III, The Father of the Navy, 1327 - 1377 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.