This interesting name is metonymic for a maker of Sieves, or as described in the Medieval Rolls a "Syvewryct". It is of Old English pre 7th Century origins being derived from "Sife" meaning "a sieve" and "Wrychta" - a wright or more plausibly in this case - an engineer. The shortened form as Sive, Sieve, and the patronymic Sives or Sivess does not appear in the records before the seventeenth Century, although Simon le Sivewricht is recorded in the Assize Court Rolls for York as early as 1219, in the reign of Henry 111 (1216 - 1272). Other recordings include Mary Sive who married a Stephen Bogner at St. Mary-le-Bone, and Elizabeth Sives who was christened at Inveresk, Musselburgh, Scotland on March 17th 1723, in the reign of George 1, (1715 - 1727). The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Sivess, which was dated January 28th 1623, marriage to Mary Ellis by Civil Licence in London, during the reign of King James 1 of England and V1 of Scotland, 1603 - 1625. 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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