Lavington

This interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname deriving from any of the places called 'Lavington' in Sussex and in Wiltshire. The two places in Sussex, now called 'Woolavington' and 'Barlavington', and recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Levitone' and 'Barleventone' respectively, were once (circa 750) called 'Lafingatun', meaning 'the settlement of Lafa's people', derived from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name 'Lafa', with the suffix 'ing' indicating 'people, family or tribe of', with 'tun', enclosure or settlement. The places were distinguished by the additions 'wella', stream and 'beorg', hill, or 'bere', barley, at an early date. The places in Wiltshire called Bishop's (or West) and Market (or East) Lavington share the same original meaning and derivation as those in Sussex. The marriage of John Lavington and Joyce Button was recorded at All Hallows, London Wall, London, on May 18th 1680. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hugh de Lavinton, which was dated 1272, The Book for Fees for Lincolnshire, during the reign of King Edward 1, '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.