This unusual and interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from Pinge Wood in Berkshire. The placename was recorded as "Punningstoce" in the Saxon Chartulary (815), and derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century "Punna", a personal name, with "ing", people of, and "stoc", place (sometimes used in the specialized sense of a meeting place or a monastery or cell); hence, "the place of Punna's people". Locational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, usually to seek work, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. The modern surname can also be found as Pyng, Pinge, Pynge, Pang, Pung and Peng. Recordings of the surname from English Church Registers include: the christening of Nathaniell, son of John Ping, on February 9th 1588, at Ivinghoe, Buckinghamshire; the marriage of Francisca Ping and James Foster on November 11th 1616, at the same place; the marriage of Thomas Ping and Martha Fryer on January 9th 1641, at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, London; and the marriage of Thomas Ping and Amy Cart on November 28th 1653, at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster, also in London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Ping, which was dated November 4th 1571, marriage to Mary Lord, at Broughton by Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.