O'Fallon

This interesting name has two possible origin, the first being that it is a variant of the English name "Fuller", from the Old English pre 7th Century "fullere", a name given to "a dresser of cloth". The second possible origin is Irish, from the Anglicized form of the Gaelic "O' Fallamhain", a descendant of Fallamhan, which was a byname meaning "leader", from "follamhnas, supremacy. Fuller is first recorded in 1219 (Assize Rolls, Yorkshire) as Roger Fulur, and Fallon, although a common name in Ireland, was not recorded there until 1585 (Dysart, Athlone, County Roscommon). The surname can be found as Fallon, O' Fallon, O' Fallo(w)ne, Fal(l)oon and Fallen, and can also be found as Hallon, from the Gaelic O' Fhallamhain. In Ireland the name is mainly found in Counties Galway and Roscommon. Among the sample recordings in London are the marriage of Peter Fallon and Magdalen Hebert on October 28th 1704 at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster and the christening of William, son of James and Elizabeth Fallon on June 2nd 1839 at St. Luke's, Chelsea. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Anne Fallen (christening), which was dated March 14th 1565, St. Giles Cripplegate, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, "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.