Walling

This uncommon name has at least three possible origins. It may be Scandinavian (Swedish) and a developed form of "Wallin" which translates as "Son of Wahl", with "Wahl" being a topographical nickname for one who lived by a grassy bank. The second possibility is that the surname is an Anglo-Saxon development of the Old English "Wealh" which means "a stranger" as in the national name of "Wales". The villages of Wallington in Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire derive from "the farm (tun) of the tribe(ing) of the strangers (wealh)". A further possibility is from the Old English "Weolingtun" - now Wellington, - the farm of the tribe dwelling by the temple (weoh). Rather surprisingly the earliest of all recordings of the modern name seem to be from North Lancashire, and are at least one hundred years before the London records. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Wallinge, which was dated May 1st 1589, married at Warton near Lancaster, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.