Binding

This interesting name would appear to be locational from some now "lost" medieval village, but in fact is either a nickname, or job-descriptive. It derives from the Olde English "bindan", meaning to bind, and probably refers to a person who was a hunter or trapper of wild animals, although it could refer to a book-binder. It is possible that the original spelling was "bynd-lou", which literally meant, "wolf-trapper", but as "wolves" had virtually disappeared by the 13th Century, the job became an early example of redundancy! Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary.The name recordings and examples of the spelling include: Judith Bineding, a baby christened at St. Martin's in the Field, London on November 25th 1606, and she may have been Juditha Binding (now in the correct spelling), who married Thomas Rennalls at the same church, on May 26th 1638. Another variant spelling was that of Richard Byndinge, recorded at St. Margaret's, Westminster, London, on August 11th 1609. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Prudence Bindinge, which was dated May 14th 1598, christened at St. Martin's in the Field, Westminster, 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.