There are two possible sources of this interesting and unusual name, the first being that it is a dialectal variant of the names Malyon or Malin. The former is a form of Marion and the latter a medieval female given name both diminutives of "Mal(l)e" a pet form of Mary. There is much controversy about the meaning of the name Mary, but in the Middle Ages it was thought to mean "star of the sea", from the Latin "stella maris". Names with the first element "mal" are numerous, many of them sharing this source. Secondly it is possible that it is a variant of a locational name Malling from either of the places so called in Sussex or Kent, and derives from an Old German personal name "Mealla", thus meaning the place of Meallas people. In Essex, it is recorded that one Ann Mallion married Richard Moss at Little Leighs in 1637. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Malyon, which was dated 1354, "Place names of Essex", 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.

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