This unusual name is of English locational origin, from the village of "Burcombe" in Wiltshire. The placename is first recorded as "Brydancumb" in 937 and as "Bredeuimbe" in the Domesday Book of 1086. The meaning is "Bryda's or Bridda's Coomb", the derivation being from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name "Bryda" or "Bridda", plus "Cumb", meaning a narrow valley, coomb or deep hollow. Locational names were usually given to the lord of the manor and to landholders and especially to those former inhabitants who moved to another location. One John Burcombe was christened on the 5th August 1686 at Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Burcombe, which was dated 24th February 1624, Britford, Wiltshire, who married Margaret Hams, during the reign of King James l of England, and Vl 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.