This unusual and interesting name is a patronymic (meaning "son of") form of the personal name "Fawke" or "Falco" which derives from the Old French "Faugue" or "Faucon" (Old German "Falco") and usually means "falcon". The personal name was introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066, and has generated a wide variety of modern surnames, ranging from "Fawke(s)", "Fawais", "Faux", "Falck" and "Falco" to "Faulkes", "Faulks", "Fake(s)", "Fawks" and "Fawson". The placename "Vauxhall" in London comes from one "Falkes de Breaute" who was Lord of the manor there in the early 13th Century. The earliest recording of the name "Fawson" is spelt slightly differently, as in "Thomas Fowson", married to Elizabeth Powell, London, 1579. One "Elias Fawson" was christened in London in 1597. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Tomas Falch. which was dated 1182, The Worcestershire Pipe Rolls. during the reign of King Henry II, The Builder of Churches, 1154 - 1189. 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.