This name, with variant spellings Manneville, Manville, Manvell and Manwell, is of French locational origin either from Manneville (seine-inferieur), Manneville (Calvados), Manneville-sur- Risle (Eure), or Magneville (La Manche). The first three places are named from the Germanic personal byname Manno denoting a (strong) man, plus the Old French "Ville", a settlement, and the last mentioned place is so called from the Old French "magne, great, plus "ville", a settlement. One, Geoffrey de Mandeville, created Earl of Essex in 1141, came from Seine Inferieur, and the Mandevilles of Earl's Stoke and Devon hailed from Magneville (La Manche). One, William de Manevell was recorded in 1210, "Curia Regis Rolls of Berkshire" and a William de Manewell in the 1296 "Subsidy Rolls of Sussex". On February 20th 1671, James Manvill and Grissild Sherior were married in Kirdford, Sussex, and on april 7th 1701, Thomas Manvell, an infant, was christened in St. Dunstan's, Stepney, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Goisfridus de Magna Uilla, (note "U" for "V"), which was dated 1086,in the "Domesday Book of Essex", during the reign of King William 1, known as "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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