Benion

This unusual and interesting name is of Old Welsh origin and is the modern form of the Old Welsh patronymic "ap Einion" or "Ap Eynon", meaning "son of Einion". The personal name means "anvil", and therefore implies stability and fortitude and is associated with "uniawn", meaning "upright, just". St. Einiawn was one of the early Welsh Saints, after whom a spring is name at Llavareth in Radnorshire. The development of the name shows the gradual change from "ap" to "ab", finally dropping the "a", Ap Eignion (1260), Ap Eynon (1300), Ab Eynon (1310) and John Baynham (1455). John Beynon is recorded in 1507. The modern surname has a variety of forms, varying from "Benion, Benyon and Benian" to "Binyon, Binion and Pinyon". On January 14th 1635, Robert Beynon married Sarah Green in Stepney, and the christening of Mathew, son of Mathew and Mary Beynon took place on September 30th 1642 at St. Lawrence Poutney. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of David Abeinon, which was dated 1313, The Parliamentary Writs, 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.