This unusual name is of Norman origin, introduced into England after the Conquest of 1066. The name derives from the Germanic personal name 'werric', in Old French 'Guern', and is first recorded as a personal name in the Domesday Book of 1086 in the forms 'Guericus' and 'Gueri', in Norfolk and London respectively. There after it appears as 'Werri' (1166, Yorkshire), 'Werreis' (1179, Dorset), and 'Werrei' (1219, Suffolk). One 'John Warry' is recorded as a witness in the Cambridgeshire Assize Rolls of 1260. The London church registers record the following early recordings of the name: Hellynor, daughter of William Worren who was christened at St. Giles, Cripplegate on April 17th 1586; the christening of Edmund, son of Edmund Warie at St. Katherine by the tower on September 22nd 1588; the marriage of Mary Mosse to William Whary at St. Dunstan, Stepney on August 20th 1626 and the marriage between John Warry and Sarah Windiner was recorded on May 25th 1679 at St. James, Duke's Place, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Nicholas Wern, which was dated 1206, The Cambridgeshire Pipe Rolls, during the reign of King John, '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.

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