Clinton

This is an interesting habitational name that originates either from Glympton in Oxfordshire, named as 'settlement on the river Glyme' or from Glinton in Northants, which was recorded in 1060 in Northants as Clinton, and derives from the middle low German word 'glinde', an enclosure or fence, and the Olde English pre 7th Century 'tun', a settlement, thus a fenced village. The change from the initial 'G' to 'C' is common in nomenclature. A family of this name who have been Earls of Lincolnshire and Dukes of Newcastle held lands at Glympton Oxon, and their founder Geoffrey de Clinton was Chamberlain and Treasurer to King Henry I. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Geoffrey de Clinton, which was dated 1130 Records held at Gympton, Oxon, during the reign of King Henry I, The Lion of Justice, 1100 - 1135. 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.