Bage

This unusual surname is of early medieval English and Germanic origin, and has two possible sources. Firstly, it can be from a metonymic occupational name for a maker of bags and sacks of various kinds, including wallets and purses, derived from the Middle English (1200 - 1500) "bagge", meaning bag, of uncertain etymology. Job descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. The second source is from the Germanic personal name "Bac(c)o, Bahho", derived from the root "bag", to fight. The name was relatively common among the Normans in the form "Bacus", of which the oblique case was "Bacon". The personal name was probably introduced into England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The modern surname can also be found as Bagg and Bagge. Recorded in the London Church Registers is the christening of Richard, son of William Bage, on September 12th 1559, at St. Dunstan in the East. A Coat of Arms granted to the family is azure a griffin rampant ermine between three cinquefoils gold, the Crest being a demi griffin ermine holding a cinquefoil stalk and leaves green. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Bagge, which was dated 1166, in the "Pipe Rolls of Norfolk", during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "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.