Rixon

This is an interesting and unusual name that has its origin in the personal name Richard. In its present form it is the patronymic, "so of" "Rich", itself a medieval given name, a short form of Richard. There was a rare Anglo-Saxon name "Ricehard", meaning rule hard, the first element being the Old German "Ric", power. However, it is also possible that this is a topographical surname for a dweller by the rushes, from the West Saxon "Rixe", "Rexe" a metathesized from of the Old English pre 7th Century "Risc", "Rysc", rush, which survives as "Rix" and "Rex" in the dialects of Dorset, Somerset and Devon. One Anne Rixon the daughter of Soloman and Jane Rixon was christened on April 3rd 1692 at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster and one Edith Rixon married Walter Wormewell on July 17th 1636 at St. Giles, Cripplegate. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Rikson, which was dated 1457, Calender of Letter Books of the City of London, Kent, during the reign of King Henry VI, "The Founder of Eton", 1422 - 1461. 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.