Enser

This unusual name is of Anglo-Saxon locational origin, from the place called 'Edensor' in Derbyshire. The placename is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Ednesovre', and means 'Eden's ridge or bank', the derivation being from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name 'Eadhun', composed of the elements 'ead', prosperity, wealth, and 'hun', bear cub, with 'ofer', a high ridge or river bank. One Hannah Enser was christened on the 19th May 1678 at St. Giles, Cripplegate, in London, and in Ticknall, Derbyshire, Mary Enser was christened on the 17th April 1796. The modern surname has two forms, 'Enser' and 'Ensor'. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Adam de Ednesovere (witness), which was dated 1247, Assize Rolls of Staffordshire, during the reign of King Henry III, The Frenchman, 1216 - 1272. 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.