This most interesting surname, while ultimately of Old Scandinavian origin, is a patronymic form of the Old French personal name "Raulin" and Middle English "Rawlin". These personal names are double diminutives of "Raw", a shortened form of Ralph, from the Old Norse personal name "Radwulf", composed of the Germanic elements "rad", counsel, advice and "-wulf", wolf, with the Anglo-Norman French diminutive suffixes "-el", and "-in". The "-son", ending indicates a patronymic form, from the personal name. In the modern idiom, the surnames Rawlin, Rallin(g), Rawlyns, Rawlison and Rawlingson also derive from this source, and are found widespread in England. One source states that Rawlinsons are numerous in Furness and Cumberland. The personal name "Raulyn" le Forester was recorded in 1277 in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield (Yorkshire), while William Raulyn was mentioned in 1290 in the Eynsham Chartulary (Oxford). One Robert Rallinson was listed in "Sheffield, Hallamshire: A Descriptive Catalogue" in 1617. A Coat of Arms depicting two bars gemelles between three silver escallops on a red shield, was granted to a Robert Rawlinson of Cark, Carknell, Lancashire, in 1662, who was a Justice of the Peace and Vice-Chamberlain of the Co. Palatine of Chester. Their Motto is "Dieu et mon Roi" (God and my King). The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Rawlinson, which was dated 1538, in the "Chartulary of the Abbey of Rievaulx", Yorkshire, during the reign of King Henry V111, known as "Good King Hal", 1509 - 1547. 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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