de'-Ancy Willis

Double-barrelled surnames, usually created following a marriage between two families, have no overall meaning as a unit, but the separate parts have their own meaning and derivation. In this instance, de'-Ancy is of French locational origin from a place in Calvados, Normandy, called Anizy, recorded in 1155 in the form "Anisie". The placename is believed to derive from the Gallo-Roman personal name "Anitius", with the local suffix "acum", enclosure, settlement. The name was introduced into England after the Norman Conquest of 1066, and has the distinction of being first recorded in the Domesday Book. Other early recordings include: Richard Danesi, (Kent 1210), and Roger de Anesye, (Wiltshire, 1236). In the modern idiom the surname has a number of variant spellings ranging from De'-Ancy, Danc(e)y, and Dansey to Dauncey, Dansie and Densey. The surname Willis is a patronymic form of the medieval male given name Will, itself a pet form of William, the Norman form of the Old French personal name "Guillaume", from the Old German "Willhelm", composed of the elements "wil", will, desire, plus "helm", helmet, protection. One, Walter Willys was recorded in the 1327 Subsidy Rolls of Staffordshire, and on October 1st 1598 the marriage of Alexander Willis to Jane Smalwood took place at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Anesi, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book for Hampshire, during the reign of King William 1st, William the Conqueror, 1066-1087. 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.