Trew - Name

This unusual and interesting name has three possible origins, the first of which and the most generally applicable to modern-day bearers of the surname being of Anglo-Saxon origin, in the form of a nickname for a 'true', trustworthy person. The derivation is from the Olde English pre 7th Century 'treowe', in Middle English 'trow(e)' or 'trew(e)' meaning faithful, or steadfast. The second origin is topogaphical, and denoted someone living near a conspicuous tree, from the Olde English 'treow', Middle English 'trow' or 'trew'. The third possible origin is also topographical, and denotes 'residence at or by a hollow in the ground', a depression, from the Middle English 'trow', trough, or hollow. There are three variants of the name today, True, Trew, and Trow. John Trew, son of Peter, was christened at St. Nicholas Acons in London on the 19th April, 1584. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Rannulfus Truue, which was dated 1180, in the Warwickshire Pipe Rolls, during the reign of King Henry ll, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. 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.