This name has two known origins. The first being a dialectually transposed locational name from the village of Blay in Calvados (Normandy) spelt Bleis in 1077, or from the village of Stoke Bliss in Worcestershire, named after a Norman family de Blez. In 1275 one Hugo de (of) Blez is recorded in 'the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire'. Bliss may also have originated as nickname for a cheerful person, deriving from the medieval English 'blisse' meaning 'gladness' or 'joy'. An alternate spelling Blysse is recorded in the Assize Court Rolls of Yorkshire' (1260). Today, the name is spelt Bliss and is recorded as such in America. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Blisse which was dated 1240 The Pipe Rolls of Huntingdonshire during the reign of King Henry III The Frenchman 1216-1272 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.