This interesting and unusual name is of Breton, Cornish and Norman-French origin and is one of the variants of the Breton personal name "Tanguy". The name is composed of the elements "tan", fire and "ci" dog, and was borne by a 6th Century Christian Saint, one of the entourage of St. Paul Aurelian, and was introduced into England at the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066. It is found in districts where Bretons are known to have settled, (usually as "Tengi", or Tingi), for example Cornwall. In the modern idiom, the variants include Tangye, Tingay, Tengue and in Ireland Tangney. One George Tingey married Ann Lambert on the 7th of July 1776 in Tottenham, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Tengi, which was dated 1202, The Assize Rolls of London, 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.