This uncommon surname is a variant of the more familiar Mundy, itself of Old Scandinavian origin, and deriving from the Old Norse personal name "Mundi", a short form of any of the various compound names containing the element "mundr", protection. The surname was first recorded towards the middle of the 13th Century (below), and further early examples include: Thomas Mundi, witness, noted in the 1291 Cheshire Assize Rolls, and Walter Mundy, entered in the 1327 Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire. Surnames derived from given names are the oldest and most pervasive surname type, and in vernacular naming traditions (as distinct from religious), names were originally composed of vocabulary elements of the local language, and no doubt bestowed for their auspicious connotations. On October 15th 1539, Thomas Mandy was christened at St. Margaret's, Westminster, London, and on November 3rd 1588, the christening of Anne Mandy took place at St. Mary Whitechapel, Stepney, also in London. The following recording from France, though late, suggests that, in some instances, Mandy may be of French origin, and a variant of Mande, itself a baptismal name from the 6th Century Breton saint from whom Saint-Mande in Seine is named. On May 11th 1844, the marriage of Jean Jacques Mandy to Marianne Montreynaud took place at Voulte-sur-Rhone, Ardeche, France. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Mundi, which was dated 1239, in the "Chartulary of the Abbey of Ramsey", Norfolk, during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "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.

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