This interesting surname with variant spellings Snare, Snar, Snarr, Snare, etc., is a nickname for a swift or fast moving person deriving from the Old Norse "snarr" meaning "swift". The surname dates back to the early 13th century, (see below). Further recordings include one Andrew Snary (1224) witness, "The Feet of Fines of Essex". London church recordings include one John Snarre who married Ann Boyden on October 14th 1711, at Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire, Martha Snarr married James Coley on August 24th 1806, at St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, and John Snarr married Elizabeth Simpson on August 1st 1809, St. Marylebone, St. Mary Street, Marylebone Road. George Snarr married Mary Buller at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster, on September 14th 1830. A Coat of Arms was granted to a Danish Snarre family which consists of a shield divided blue and red quarterly, the first and fourth being blue, the second and third being red, with a gold cock's foot from the top right-hand corner to the bottom left-hand corner. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Snarri, which was dated 1200 - The Pipe Rolls of Hampshire, during the reign of King John known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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.