Dearing

This ancient surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal names "Deoring" or "Dyring", patronymic forms of "Deor" or "Dyre", meaning "Dear, Beloved". The Olde English suffix "-ing", when attached to a personal name, denoted "the sons, descendants, or dependants (of the person named)". There is a Kentish tenant, Derinc filius (son of) Sired, mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, and one "Dierling(us)", appears in the 1185 Knights' Templars Records of Kent. In 1190, a Willelmus filus Derinch was noted in the Book of Seals for Berkshire. This surname has the rare distinction of being recorded prior to Domesday (see below). Further early examples include: Richard Dering, circa 1250 (the Chartulary of the Monastery of Ramsey, Norfolk); John Dyring (the Worcestershire Subsidy Rolls, dated 1275); Henry During, noted in the 1327 Subsidy Rolls of Somerset; and Ricardus Deryng, "souter", entered in the 1379 Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire. In the modern idiom the surname has four spelling variations: Dearing, Deering, Dering and Doring. On May 15th 1541, Margery Dering and Richard Paget were married at St. Lawrence's, Pountney, London, and on September 22nd 1577, Thomas Dearing, an infant, was christened at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, also in London. A Coat of Arms granted to the family in 1664 is a green shield with three silver bucks' heads, attired gold. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Aelfsige Dyring, which was dated 955, in the "Saxon Chartulary", during the reign of Edred the Saxon, ruler of England, 946 - 955. 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.