Merrikin - Name

This unusual name is one of the diminutive English forms of the female personal name "Mary", which became popular in Western Europe after 1100, when it was brought back from the East by Crusaders and became established in France as "Marie" and from there was introduced into England. There is much dispute over the meaning of the name, though it is generally accepted as meaning "wished for child" or "star of the sea". The name is derived from the Aramaic "Maryarn", later influenced by the latin "Marius" to become "Maria". "Merry" was a medieval English variant of "Mary", and with the diminutive suffix "kin" produced the modern surname "Merrikin". Marion Merrikin and Joseph Lane were married at St. Pancras, Old Church in London on the 1st April 1860. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Marekyn, which was dated 1390, Records of the Freemen of York, during the reign of King Richard II, 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.