Crocumbe

Recorded in various spelling forms including Crocombe, Crowcomb, Crowcum and Crocumbe, this is an English surname. It is locational from a place called Crowcombe in the county of Somerset, in the South West of the country. The placename was first recorded in the Saxon Charters of 904 a.d. as "Crauuancumb", and then in the famous Domesday Book of 1086 as "Crawecumbe". It translates as "crow valley", from the Olde English pre 7th Century words "crawa", meaning crow, and "cumb", a deep hollow or valley. Locational surnames were developed when a former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. This movement also lead to the development of variant spelling forms, given the general lack of education, and the very thick local dialects. Early examples of the surname recordings taken from surviving church registers in the county of Somerset include: the marriage of Marye Crocumbe and Thomas Aplyne at North Petherton on January 1st 1576, also that of Giles Crocombe and Ann Beall at the same place on October 29th 1602, and Ann Crocum, who married William Coombes at St James church, city of Bath, on September 17th 1799. The first recorded spelling of the family name is believed to be that of Gilbert de Crokum. This was dated 1292, in the Pipe Rolls of the county of Northumberland, during the reign of King Edward 1st, 1272 - 1307. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop," often leading to astonishing varnts of the original spelling.