This uncommon and interesting name is of ancient British or Celtic origin, and is a locational surname for someone who came from the city of London, or in some cases it may derive from a nickname for someone who had made a trip to London, or who had some other connection with the city. The placename is recorded by the Roman historian, Tacitus, in circa 115 - 117, in its Latinized form of "Londinium", and in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles of 839 as "Lundenne". The name is British (pre-Roman) in origin, and of obscure etymology; it is thought to derive from the Celtic element "lond", wild, bold, used either as a personal or a tribal name. The surname from this source can be found as London, Lundon, Lonnon and Lunnon. Among the early recordings of the name is that of the marriage of Michaell London and Alice Lifford in Farnham, Surrey, on August 8th 1568. The novelist Jack London (1876 - 1916), author of "Call of the Wild", was a notable bearer of the name. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Leofsi de Lundonia, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book, during the reign of King William 1, known as "William the Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. 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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