This is an English locational surname. Recorded as Rangle, Rangel, Rangell, Rangley, Rangeley, Wrangle and probably others, it is believed to originate from the village of Wrangle, near Boston in the county of Lincolnshire. First recorded in the famous Domesday Book of 1086 as Werangle, and as Wrengl in the Assize Court Rolls of the county in the year 1202, it finally appears as Wrangle in the Book of Fees of the county in 1212. The name is derived from the pre 7th centurey word "wrng" meaning crooked and thought to refer to an ancient stream that has now disappeared, Wrangle being situated on old fenland. Locational surnames were an easy means of identification by those who left their birthplace to settle elsewhere although dialectal differences often led to variant forms of the original name. Examples of the surname recordings include the christening of Dorythye Wrangle, on June 29th 1568, at Great Carlton, Lincolnshire, Herbert Rangell at St Andrews Enfield, on October 11th 1607, Robert Rangley at the same church on January 6th 1681, and Eliza Rangeley who married Thomas Radford at St Pancras Old Church, city of London, on November 27th 1826. 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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