Recorded in a wide range of spellings including Trew, Trewer, Trow, Trowe, Trower, Trown, Trawin, Trounce, and Trownson, this is an English surname. It has several possible origins. The famous Victorian etymologist Canon Charles Bardsley believed that it was a form of "Trogne", an early English or possibly Danish-Viking name which may have developed from Troll or Trog, meaning a cave dweller or mythical being. This may have been associated with the Olde English pre 7th century personal name and word 'Treowe' meaning steadfast or trustworthy. Another possible origin is topographical, and describes a person who lived near a 'trow'. This was a hollow or depression in the ground, and as found in the place name Trowbridge. The original surname is very early being 12th century, (see below), and examples showing the surname development over the many centuries since includes such examples as Roger Trowe, in the Curia Regis tax rolls for the county of Wiltshire in the year 1200, and William Trewe in the Subsidy Tax rolls of Yorkshire in 1310. Other examples are those of William Trawnson or Trownson, given as being a "myller", who applied for a marriage licence in the city of London, in 1562, Elizabeth Trower, who married Jeffrey Clarke at Uxbridge church, Middlesex, on April 28th 1574, and Mary Trounce, who married Charles Cutter at St Georges chapel, Hanover Square, on April1st 1791. The first recorded spelling of the family name is believed to be that of Ralph Truwe. This was dated 1185, in the register of the Knight Templars (Crusaders) of Kent", during the reign of King Henry 11 of England, 1154 - 1189. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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