This rare and interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon and Dutch origin, and is from a topographical name for someone who lived in a muddy area, derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century "slim", meaning slime or mud, and the Dutch "slijm", also meaning slime or mud. The modern English adjective "slim", meaning slender, derived from the Low German and Dutch, is not found before the 17th Century. Topographical surnames were among the earliest created, since both natural and man-made features in the landscape provided easily recognisable distinguishing names. The first recording of the surname in Holland was of one Jan Jans, son of Jan Jans Slijm and Martjen Eppeson, christened on July 25th 1756 at Scheemda, Groningen. Recorded in Church Registers are the marriages of Jans Slym and Elsjen Alberts Hensum on May 23rd 1768 at Westerlee, Groningen, Holland, and of Jane Slym and Randall Bonner on April 25th 1865 at St. Giles, Cripplegate, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Jane Slyme, which was dated November 21st 1605, christened at St. James' Church, Clerkenwell, 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 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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