This most interesting surname is of Old French origin, and derives from a nickname for a proud person, or a pageant-name for someone who played the role of a particularly vain or haughty person in a medieval play, from the Old French word "orgueil", meaning pride. Thus the name is an example of the sizeable group of early European surnames that were gradually created from the habitual use of nicknames. Nicknames were given in the first instance with reference to a variety of features, such as physical attributes or peculiarities, mental and moral characteristics, including supposed resemblance to an animal's or bird's appearance or disposition, or to habits of dress and occupation. The name in the modern idiom is also found as Orgel, Orgell, and Orgil. The surname is first recorded in the late 12th Century (see below), while other early examples include Walter Orgouyl, mentioned in the "Minister's Accounts of the Earldom of Cornwall", in 1297; and one Gerard Orgul, recorded in 1305, in the "Calendar of Early Mayor's Court Rolls". Jane Orgill married Nathaniell Maning on October 10th 1638 at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, London. A Coat of Arms was granted to a family so called at Beccles, in Suffolk, which depicts a fess between three crescents, each surmounted by a red fleur-de-lis, on a silver shield. The Crest is a buffalo's head sable gorged with a wreath of roses proper. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Edmund Liorgil, which was dated circa 1198, in the "Early Charters of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul's, London", during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "The Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. 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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