Recorded in many forms as shown below, this is an English surname. It is of early medieval origins, and derives from the 12th century word "yule", meaning Christmastide, but ultimately from the pre 7th century "geol" and the Norse-Viking "jol". The surname would have been given as a nickname to someone who was born on Christmas Day, or had some other connection with this time of year. This was originally the name of a pagan midwinter festival, which was later appropriated by the Christian Church for celebration of the birth of Christ. The creation of surnames from nicknames was a common practice in the Middle Ages, and many modern-day surnames derive from personal characteristics of one sort or another. Early recordings include William Yoel in the Court Rolls of the manor of Wakefield, Yorkshire in 1297, and Robert Yole is listed in the Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire in 1379. The name is also recorded very early in Scotland, with Johannes Yhole being burgess of Haddington in 1374, and Simon Youle who executed a charter of sale in Aberdeen in 1399. In the modern idiom the surname has many nt spellings including Yol, Yole, Youle, Youll, Yoell, Youhill, Youell, Yuille, Yule and others. Recordings of the surname from surviving early church registers of ther city of London include the marriage of William Yule and Elizabethe Laslese at St. Margaret's Westminster, on November 16th 1579, and the marriage of Christopher Youl and Isabell Attlee on May 28th 1623, at St. Gregory by St. Paul's cathedral. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Yol. This was dated 1199, in the "Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes 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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