Lampen

This uncommon name is of early medieval English origin, and has two possible interpretations. Firstly, it may be one of the diminutive forms of the surname Lamb, which derives from the Olde English and Middle English "lamb", lamb, used as a nickname for someone thought to be particularly meek and gentle, or as a metonymic occupational surname for a keeper of lambs. It may also, in some few cases, derive from a topographical name for someone who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of the aschal lamb. Secondly, Lammin may be a diminutive variant of the male given name Lambert; there was a native Olde English name, "Landbeorth", composed of the elements "land", land, territory, with "beorht", bright, famous, which was much reinforced by the introduction by the Normans of the Continental (Germanic) forms "Lambert, Lanbert", which had the same meaning. The given name was a particular favourite in England during the Middle Ages, owing to the immigration of Weavers from Flanders, where St. Lambert (bishop of Maastricht, circa 700) was popular. The diminutive surnames from these two sources range from Lambie, Lammie and Lam(b)kin, to Lampkin, Lampen and Lammin(g), and are found particularly in East Anglia and Lincolnshire. The christening of Thomas Lammin was recorded in Stainfield, Lincolnshire, on January 16th 1601. A Coat of Arms granted to a family of the name depicts a silver fesse between three silver paschal lambs passant on a black shield. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Lambyn, which was dated 1273, in the "Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.