This name, with variant spellings Wakelin, Wakling, Walkling, Wakelam, Walkin(g) and Walklyn, derives from Walc(h)elin, an Anglo-Norman-French diminutive form of the Old German personal byname Walco meaning "Foreigner". Walcelin (without surname) was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 and a Ricardus filius (son of) Walkelini in the 1119 "Records of Bury St. Edmunds", Suffolk. One, Wakelinus de Roking appears in the "Curia Rolls of Warwickshire", dated 1221. The surname was first recorded in that year also, (see below). One, Nicholas Walklin appears in 1225 "Assize Court Rolls of Somerset" and a John Wakelam in the 1544 "Fine Court Rolls of Staffordshire". The marriage of Dorothy Waukling and Robert Davies was recorded in London in 1585, and one William Walkling married Mary Mottocks at All Hallos, London Wall, on February 1722. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Wakelin, which was dated 1221, The Curia Rolls of London, during the reign of King Henry 111, "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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.