Recorded in a number of spellings including: Miklem, Milcombe, Milicam, Milkeham, Milcum and Milchem, this is an English locational surname. First recorded in the registers known as the Subsidy Rolls for the county of Sussex in the year 1296 as John de Mychelham, and later in same registers for 1337 as John de Mykelham. Given the short lives of those ancient times, the recordings probably do not refer to the same person, but in anycase the origination is from a village called Mickelham in Surrey. This village is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, translates from the Pre 7th century Olde English 'micel ham' as, the 'Large hamlet or homstead'. Locational surnames are usually, as in this case, 'from' names. That is to say that they were originally given to people who had left their former homes and moved elsewhere, as an easy form of identification. Education being at best primitive, and local dialects very thick, lead to the development of 'sounds like' spellings. In this case further examples of the surname recordings include: Fraunces Mycklem of Bisham in Berkshire in 1567, Tymothie Millcum, who was christened at the church of St Nicholas Acorns, in the city of London, in 1553, and William Melchen, who married Mary Everard at St Botolphs Bishopgate, also city of London, on December 20th 1684.

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