This rare surname is of Celtic origin and is a dialectal variant of Loman a locational name from a river in Devon, or from one of the the three places on that river named with this element, for example Chieflowman, recorded in the Domesday Book as "honming" or craze Loman ("honmele" Domesday Book of 1086) or Uplowman ("Oppaluma" Domesday Book of 1086). the derivation is from the Celtic word for elm, found in the Irish "lem", and the welsh "llwyf". However, it may be that this surname derives from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name "heofmann", meaning beloved man, and the Middle English development "leofman", lover. One Charles Lomen was christened on September 1721, at Romford, Essex. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Reiner Leman, which was dated 1185, Templars Records, Essex, during the reign of King Henry 11, "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.