This unusual and interesting name has two modern-day forms, "Marking" and "Markin", and is a diminutive form of the personal name "Mark", which derives from the Latin "Marcus", from "Mars", the Roman war-god, so the name can be said to mean "war-like". The name was particularly popular on the continent, especially in Italy, but was not much, used in England until the 19th Century. It's popularity was due mainly to the fame of St. Mark, the second evangelist. The surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 14th Century, (see below). Recordings of the surname in London church registers include; Alice Markin, who was christened on February 14th 1660, at St. Mary Abbots, Kensington; on February 22nd 1673, William Marking who married Alice Gardiner, at St. Saviour's, Southwark; the marriage of Ann Marking to Coronrot Loyer took place on September 5th 1780, at St. James, Westminster, and Richard Henry Marking who was christened on July 15th 1866 at St. John the Baptist's, Shoreditch. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Johannes Markyn, which was dated 1379, The Poll Tax Records of Yorkshire, during the reign of King Richard 11, "Richard of Bordeaux", 1377 - 1399. 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.