Friedlos

This very unusual surname is Germanic in origin, although at least in this spelling, does not appear to be recorded in Germany. This may be because German records are very bad, which they are, or it maybe that the present form is a variant of something else, perhaps 'Friedschloss' or similar. Certainly the stem of the name 'Fried' is a very popular surname, and it has many patronymic and diminutive forms. The name derives either from a diminutive of the personal name 'Frederick' or from the Yiddish 'frid' meaning 'peace'. There are many spellings including Frid, Freed, Fried, Fridman, and ornamentals such as Fridenberg, Friedgut, Friedhaber, etc. All have much the same meaning of Peace plus a descriptive suffix. In this case the first recording as shown below suggests that the 'original' name holders may have been refugees in the Victorian period, when there was considerable unrest in Europe between 1830 and 1855. The first nameholder as shown below married a Miss Maria Spencer Etheridge. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Joseph Friedlos, which was dated May 13th 1872, who married at St Pancras Old Church, London, during the reign of Queen Victoria, known as 'The great white queen', 1837 - 1901. 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.