This most interesting and unusual surname may be of early medieval English, German or Dutch origin. Firstly, it may be a shortened form of "Stripling", a nickname given to a youth, from the Middle English "stryplynge", a youth. Secondly, the surname may be a metonymic occupational name for someone who farmed a long narrow tract of land, from the Middle Low German "strippe", a strip of land. Finally, in Middle Dutch, "stripp", a streak, was used as a nickname given to someone marked in some way with a stripe or streak, for example a streak of white hair. Early examples of the surname include the marriage of William Stripp and Margaret Vervey on December 30th 1603, at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, in London; the christening of Ann Strip on July 31st 1605, also at St. Dunstan's Church; the marriage of Margaretha Strip and Christian Kluemper on June 15th 1706, at Alstaette Ahaus, Sankt Marien, Westfallen, Germany; and the marriage of Christianus Strip and Eva Nabers on October 12th 1710, also at Alstaette Ahaus, Germany. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Herman Stripe, which was dated 1325, in Lubeck, Germany, during the reign of Louis 1V of Bavaria (1314 - 1347) and Frederick of Hapsburg (1314 - 1325) Co-regents of the Holy Roman Empire. 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.