Recorded as Land, Lande, Landa, Lands, Landes, Landis, Laind, Laund, and others, this is an English, German, Scandanavian, surname. It has (in England) several possible origins. The first is topographical for someone who lived in the country, as opposed to a town, or on an estate. The derivation is from the pre 7th century word "land", meaning territory, used in the Middle Ages with the specialised senses mentioned above. The second origin is from the early medieval English for someone who lived in a forest glade. This is from the French word "launde". Thirdly it may be locational from Launde, a village in Leicestershire recorded as Landa in 1163, and hence an early source for the surname. Examplkes of the surname recording from surviving church registers include the marriage of Richard Land and Elizabeth Fuller at St. James's, Clerkenwell, city of London, in 1579, whilst George Lande and Sarah Lande, left from the Dorset port of Weymouth in March 1635, and are amongst the earliest bearers of the name to settle in New England. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas de la Lande, which was dated 1205, in the "Northamptonshire Pipe Rolls", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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.