This interesting and unusual name is of Medieval English origin and is a distinguishing epithet for a son who shared the same given name as his father and is derived from the Old English pre 7th Century "Sunu", and the Middle English "Sone", meaning son, thus the younger, or junior. In the modern idiom, the variants include Son(n), Sone, and Soan(e), and the following examples illustrate the name development after the first recording (see below). James le Sone (1275, Catalogue of Ancient Deeds), Roger le Son (1327, Subsidy Rolls, Suffolk), William Sones (1327 Subsidy Rolls, Derbyshire), Robert Soones, John Soanes, (1674, Essex, Hearth Tax Returns). Amongst the recordings in London are the marriages of John Soanes and Elizabeth Payne on August 4th 1684, and Peter Soans and Bridget Goolding February 6th 1757 at St. Bartholomew by the Exchange. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Sune, which was dated 1203, Pipe Rolls of Warwickshire, 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.

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