Trim

It is considered that 'Trim' is a metonymic form of the medieval job descriptive 'Trymmare', now found in the surname 'Trimmer'. It would seem that the derivation is from the Olde English pre 8th century 'trymman' which translates as 'to strengthen', a quite different meaning to that of the 20th century. 'Trim' or 'Trymme' in its earliest known form, see below, would seem to be a 16th century 'short' version of 'Trymmare', one of the rare early recordings being William Le Trymmare of Hampshire in 1327. It is believed that a 'trymmare' was a form of shipwright or carpenter, and the term may have originally described one whose job was to strengthen a ship by 'trimming' it to reduce hull weight. The 16th century meaning of 'Trim' seems to have been more personal, and refer to a slim or smart person, rather than an occupation. Be that as it may the early recordings include Henry Trymme, the first son and second of seven children of Anthonye and Alse (Alice?) Trymme, registered at St Martins Church, Ludgate, City of London, on April 7th 1563. The name spelling changes in 1587 when Anthonye Trimme married Martha Hawes at the church of St Nicholas Cole, London on October 20th of that year, whilst on August 24th 1606, Anne Tryme married Henrie Goodcoll (!) at St James Clerkenwell. The 'modern' spelling is found on January 22nd 1620 with John Trime of Stepney, and the final development is recorded on June 9th 1642, when Thomas Trim was a witness at St Andrews Church, Holborn, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Johane Trymme, which was dated April 7th 1563, christened at St Martins, Ludgate, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as '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.