Ong

Recorded in several spelings including Ong, Yong, Yonge, Yonges and others, this is an English surname. It is one of the many dialectal forms of the pre 7th century word 'geong', of which the most popular manifestation as a surname is 'Young'. The meaning is an endearment meaning 'The young one' and as such at may have been a nickname, but more likely was baptismal, and probably patronymic. It is said that ' Onn and Ong' are also found as an anglicised form of a Chinese name, but if so this is a recent development and has no bearing on British name holders. The 'modern' name recordings would seem to be early 17th Century, which is really too late for surname creation (except as a variant), and this would seem to confirm that we have the correct derivation. Early examples of recordings date back to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, effectively the earliest English scrolls, and include Wilferd seo Lunga of 744 a.d., and later Richard le Yunge of Lichfield in circa 1200. Other recordings include Jone Ounge of Wiltshire in 1619 and Clement Onge of the same county in 1665.The coat of arms has the blazon of fusilly, gold and green, on a blue bend, three bezants. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Ong, which was dated May 31st 1657, a christening witness at St. Giles, London, during the reign of Oliver Cromwell, known as 'The Great Protector', 1650 - 1658. 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.