This unusual name is English, Dutch and possibly German origin. It was originally recorded as Slyme, Slimme and Slym, and later Slim and Slimm. In the Netherlands, the translation is not as may be thought, a slim person, but is a nickname for a clever person, and was used as a metonymic for a teacher or academic. The English version however, whilst it may also have the same meaning, can be of Olde Eglish pre 7th century. If so it is topogrphical for a person who was lived at a 'slimme', a particularly muddy place. The name is widely recorded in early surviving church registers of Germany, The Netherlands and the city of London, and these examples include: Annetje Slim, the daughter of Gerrit Cales Slim, who was christened on November 11th 1689 at Moordrecht, Holland, in Germany that of Marie Elisabeth Slimm who married Jacobus Negener on November 12th 1745 at Alme, Westphalia, whilst in England the recordings include Margaret Slimm, of Finsbury, on November 8th 1751. She was the daughter of Benjamin and Margaret Slim of possibly Huguenot origins. The first recorded spelling of the family name in England is shown to be that of Thomas Slimme. This was dated April 8th 1621, when he was a witness at St. Giles Cripplegate, city of London, during the reign of King James 1st of England and V1 of Scotland, 1603 - 1625. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes 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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