This picturesque and interesting name is of Medieval English origin and is a dialectal variant of the locational name Somersby from a place so called in Lincolnshire. Somersby is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Summerdebi', and in the 'Lincolnshire Survey' as 'Sumerdebi' circa 1115, and derives from a Scandinavian personal name 'Sumarlithi', with the Old English 'by', the Old Norse 'byr', a village or a homestead. This personal name Sumarlithi recorded as 'Sumerlida' in the Domesday Book, translates as summer warrior. Amongst the sample recordings in Lincolnshire is the christening of Ellen Summersby on March 10th 1604 at Brinkhill, and in London of Mary Summersby on February 24th 1739 at St. Boltoph's-without Aldgate. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alicia Somersby marriage to Richard Willi, which was dated October 3rd 1546, Alford, Lincolnshire, during the reign of King Henry V111, 'Good King Hal', 1509-1547. 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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