This is believed to be one of the variant spellings which derive from the Olde English 'Blenc' and is a medieval English midlands metonymic for a 'maker of chairs and benches'! The name in the modern idiom is usually spelt 'Benge' and much more rarely as Benger or Beange, the later being a fairly recent development and probably a deliberate change. The surname development include the following examples William Benge, baptised at St. Martins in the Field, Westminster on July 24th 1586, Peter Beenge, a witness at the same church on January 15th 1629 whilst Margarett Bennge married Walter Baker at Bruton, Somerset on May 3rd 1596. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Benyger, which was dated 1328, The Country Pipe Rolls of Somerset, during the reign of King Edward III, The Father of the Navy, 1327 - 1377. 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.