Rameau

This unusual and interesting name is of French origin, introduced into England during the late 17th Century by French Huguenot refugees, fleeing religious persecution on the continent, especially after Louis X1V's revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. The surname "Ramel" is a diminutive form of the name "Ram", with the diminutive suffix "-el", which is a topographical surname given to someone who lived in a thickly wooded area. The derivation is from the Old French "ram, raim", branch, from the Latin "ramus". It is thought that the name Ram, and its diminutive forms Ramel, Ramelet, Ram(e)lot and Rameau(x), was also used as a nickname for someone who had some connection with Palm Sunday, since the French term, for that festival is "dimanche des rameaux". Sarah Ramel was christened in London in December 1697, and the marriage of Thomas Ramel and Susannah Sampson was recorded at St. Paul's, Canterbury, Kent, On June 20th 1699. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Francois Ramel, (christening), which was dated October 14th 1654, at Ille-et-Villaine, France, during the reign of King Louis X1V of France, known as "The Sun King", 1643 - 1715. 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.