Gregoire

This name is one of the several hundred variant forms of the ancient Greek personal name "Gregorius", meaning "the watchful one". In Christian mythology it is associated with the Latin form "grex" meaning "flock" hence the Good Shepherd. The name was first borne in the 4th Century by St. Gregory Nazianzene circa 325 - 390, and by St. Gregory of Nyssa circa 311-390 and later by no less that sixteen popes - hence the long term popularity, and the spread of the name throughout christendom. These forms vary enormously from Gregoire, Gregorio, Grigore and Grog or Groger to Regorz, Grelak and Grzeogorczck. The name can be prefixed by G, R, K or even H; as in Hrynczyk for the Ukraine! Recordings include Katerian Grog, a witness at Neck Antre, Wuertt, Germany on November 4th 1866, although earlier in London Mandeivle Grogona was a witness on October 9th 1849 at the christening of Walter Atkins Grogona, born on September 2nd 1849. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Johan Jorgen Krogner which was dated Sankt Ludger Church, Alme, Westfalen, Germany on July 21st, during the reign of Emperor Charles V1, of the Holy Roman Empire, 1711 - 1740. 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.