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Figgins - Name

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This interesting and unusual surname is of early medieval English origin, and is a diminutive of "Figg", which derives from the Norman "fiquet", from the Old French "fiche", an iron-point. The name would have been given as a metonymic occupational name for a workman who made iron-pointed implements or who worked with an iron-pointed implement. Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. In some instances, "Figg" may be from the German "feige", fig, and would have been a topographical name for someone who lived by a fig tree, or a metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of figs. John Fygyn was noted in the 1545 Sussex Wills. Recordings of the surname from London Church Registers include: the marriage of John Figgins and Joane Greenaway at St. Margaret's, Westminster, on December 18th 1648; the marriage of John Figgins and Anne Eave on January 30th 1669, at St. Katherine by the Tower' and the marriage of Thomas Figgins and Susan Fern on Mary 25th 1673, at St. Mary's, Marylebone Road. A Coat of Arms granted to the family depicts a green tree growing out of a green mount on a silver shield, the Crest being a dexter arm holding a red cross crosslet fitchee. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Fygen, which was dated 1545, in the "Sussex Wills", during the reign of King Henry V111, known as "Good King Hal", 1509 - 1547. 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.