Rance

This interesting surname, with variant spellings Raund(s), Rands etc., has two distinct possible origins. Firstly, it may be a patronymic form of the medieval male given name Rand, itself a shortened form of any of the various Germanic personal names, for example Randolph, having as a first element "rand" meaning "rim (of a shield)". One, Rande de Borham was noted in a 13th Century "Calendar of Early Mayor's Court Rolls" for Cambridgeshire, and an Adam Rand appears in the 1275 "Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire". The name may also be of topographical origin from residence by the outskirts of a settlement or on the bank of a river. The derivation, in this case, is from the old English pre 7th Century "rand", brink, edge, margin or shore. Rand in Lincolnshire, Rand Grange, in Yorkshire and Raunds, in Northamptonshire are all named with this element and the surname may in some instances be locational from any of the above places. On January 13th 1579 William Raunce and Elizabeth Ridlye were married in St. Thomas the Apostle, London and on January 13th 1598 Jeane Rance married a Richard Milbarne in London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Herlewinus de Rande, which was dated 1176, in "The Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire", during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. 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.