This interesting surname is English. It is occupational and a medieval job description for an official who superintended the supply of meat to royalty or nobility. In a book called "The history of the City of York" written in 1785, but referring to a period about the year 1300, states that "David le Lardiner, holds one serjeanty and is the keeper of the Forest Gaol, and also the seizer of cattle which are taken for indebtedness to the king". Recorded in several spelling forms including Larne, Larner, and Lardner, the surname is also recorded in Scotland and far away in County Galway on the west coast of Ireland. Examples of the surname recording taken from surviving church registers of the post medieval period include: Jon Lardner, who married Hannah Moore in London in 1693, whilst in 1701, John Lardner, given as being an apothecary, was baptised at St. Dionis Backchurch, in the city of London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ywon le Lardaner. This was dated 1289, in the Pipe Rolls of the county of Gloucestershire, during the reign of King Edward 1st of England, 1272 - 1307. 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.