Bliven

This very interesting and royal name is a developed or anglicised dialectal spelling form of the Ancient British (late Welsh) "Bleddyh". This personal name translates as "The Son of (or Little) Wolf" from "Blaidd" (Wolf) plus "yn" (diminutive ending). The name is much associated with early Welsh royalty, Bleddyn ap Cynfan being a Prince in 11th century Gwynedd, (north Wales). The early recordings are all associated with Wales, although the variant spellings have often been English, appearing in Norfolk in the Hundred Rolls of 1273 (Robert Blevyn). The history of the name includes the recording that "At the Survey (Domesday Book) Alan, Son of Flaald, obtained it (The Manor of Mileham) by gift from William the Conqueror. Also the Manor and Castle of Oswaldstrey (Oswestry), in Shropshire, which belonged to Meredith ap Blethyn, a Welshman or Briton". This recording was 16th century, others include Nicholas Blythewin in the Curia Regis Rolls of 1369, whilst on February 3rd 1579, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, William Blethyn, Bishop of Llandaff, wrote to Sir Francis Walsingham, The Lord Chancellor of England - this is probably the first recording in the modern spelling. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Meredith ap Blethyn, which was dated 1086, Lord of the Manor of "Oswaldstrey", Shropshire, during the reign of Kind William 1, known as "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.