Godson

This unusual and interesting name is a dialectual variant of the name Goodson, of English origin. There are two possible derivations of this name, both of which have the same meaning. The first, chiefly found in East Anglia and the East Midlands is a nickname surname for a dutiful son from the Middle English "gode", good, and "sune", son. The second derivation is from a medieval survival of an Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Godsunu", composed of the elements "god", good and "suinu", son. In the modern idiom the variants include Guterson, Godson. One Elizabeth Gutherson married John Searson on 16h May 1848 at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alwinus Gode Seine, which was dated 1066, in the Domesday Book, Somerset, during the reign of King William 1, known as "William the Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. 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.