Jeune

Recorded in the spelling of Jeune, Lejeune, and June, this is an English surname, but of pre medieval French origins. Probably introduced into England by the Normans immediately after the famous 1066 Invasion when for three centuries French became the official language, the surname originates from the word "jeune" meaning "young" and was originally a nickname or term of endearment, for a young man. About 15% of all surnames are believed to have originally been nicknames, so this one comes into the same grouping as Dear, Darling, and Love. The surname is one of the earliest recorded, one Richard le Jeune being recorded in the register of the abbey of Lichfield, Staffordshire in the year 1199, whilst later hereditary forms include Matilda Jun, a land owner in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridge for the year 1279, and John June, also recorded as John le June, who appears in the Subsidy Rolls for the county of Yorkshire in 1301. This was in the reign of King Edward 1st of England, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Surnames were first recorded anywhere in the world in England, and to some extent Germany, in the 12th century. Thereafter they spread rapidly to most European countries, although until the 19th century outside of the main regions, because of war and incompetence, recordings were usually erratic or often non existent.