This name is an occupational term, descriptive of a man who would have been the servant of Batt or Badd. The personal name Batt has three possible origins. It could be a derivative from the Middle English perform of Bartholemew. It may be a Middle English survival of 'bata' a word for a cudgel and hence a byname for a belligerent person. Alternatively it may derive from a topographical name of uncertain meaning. A record exists from Somerset of one Walter-atte-Batte 1327. In the form of Batt the surname is common in Sussex variant forms of Badman occur as Batman and Bateman. One Agnes Badman married a Thomas Taylor on June 8th 1551 at Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey. On August 4th 1588 Ann Badman daughter of William Badman was christened at St. Katherines by the Tower, London.A Coat of Arms granted to the family granted in 1298 has the blazon of a gold shield thereon three crescent issuant from each a red estoile, a canton azure. The crest being: an estoile as in the arms between two eagle's wings ore. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Bathemanus (de Staunford), which was dated 1222, in the Curia Regis Rolls Rutland, during the reign of King Henry 111, known as 'The Frenchman', 1216 - 1272. 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.

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