This unusual name is of English locational origin, from the place called "Wormleighton" in Warwickshire. The placename is first recorded in 956 as "Wilmanlehtune" and in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Wimelstone", while by 1236 it has become "Wilmelayton". The meaning is "the village by the river Wilme, where leeks grow". The derivation being from the Old English pre 7th Century river name "Wilme" or Wielme" from "Wielm" meaning "flowing, bursting forth", while the second element is "leactun", the homestead or villagewhere leeks grow. Locational surnames were spread around the country by their bearers when they moved to live or work in another town, and were known by their original home placenames. Until the 19th Century, the name was usually spelt "Wormlayton" or "Wormlaton". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Annis Wormelatoon, christened. which was dated 22nd March 1611, St. Andrews, Helborn. during the reign of King James I of England and VI of Scotland, 1603 - 1625. 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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