Maureen

Recorded as Marran, Marren, Maren, Marin, Marrone, Marryn and many others, this is a diminutive of the famous personal name Mary. Introduced into the British Isles by returning Crusaders from the Holy Land in the 12th century, Mary meaning 'the wished for child', developed several personal nickname forms including Maire, Marie, and Maureen. It was a time of great religious revival, and biblical names became all the rage, usually in the process obliterating existing native names. This name shows the diminutive form of 'Little Mary' or perhaps 'Son of Mary', An early example in the surviving church registers of the diocese of Greater London is that of Gilberd Maren, a witness at St Brides church, Fleet Street, on March 21st 1618, and John Marrin at St James Clerkenwell, on July 23rd 1687. The first recorded spelling of the family name in any form may be that of Hervicus Mariot. This was dated 1185, in the register of the Knights Templars (Crusaders) for the county of Warwickshire, during the reign of King Henry 11nd of England. He was known as 'The Builder of Churches', 1154-1189. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.