This interesting name is a patronymic (son of) of Beck, which itself is either of Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse of early medieval English origin, and has three possible sources. Firstly, it could be from a topographical name for someone who lived beside a stream, from the northern Middle English "bekke", stream. Topographical surnames were among the earliest created, since both natural and man-made features in the landscape provided easily recognisable distinguishing names in the small communities of the Middle Ages. Secondly, it could be derived from a habitational name from any of the places so called in northern France, for example Bec Hellowing in Eure, Normandy, having its origins in the Olde Norse "bekkr", a stream. Lastly, it could be derived from a metonymic occupational name for a maker, seller, or user of a mattock or pickaxe, from the Olde English pre 7th Century "becca", mattock or pickaxe. Job-descriptive surname originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. Recordings from London Church Registers include the christening of Miriam, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Bexon, in 1883. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter Bec, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of Buckinghamshire, during the reign of King William 1, known as "The Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. 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.