Rowling

This unusual name is of Norman, French origin and derives from either of the personal names "Rolf" or "Rowland". The Normans introduced their form of the Germanic name "Rolf", composed of the elements "hrod", renown and "wulf", wolf as "Ron" or "Roul", which when Latinised in early English documents became "Rollo". The name has since generated a wide variety of variant surnames of which "Rowling, Rowlatt, and Rolling" are just some of the diminutive forms. The Normans also introduced the Germanic name "Rowland", which is composed of the elements "hrod", renown and "land", land, territory as "Rollant" and this name too was the source for many modern surnames, among them the diminutive forms "Rowling", "Rolling" and "Rowlin". There has been some confusion over the centuries between the sources of the modern names. Amy Rowling was married to John Ham on the 14th of February 1779 at St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Geoffrey Roulin, which was dated 1327, in the "Suffolk Subsidy Rolls", during the reign of King Edward 11, known as "Edward of Caernafon", 1307 - 1327. 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.