This surname of English, Scottish and Gaelic origin can be a topographical name for someone who lived on the slope of a hillside or by a riverbank, from the Old English 'bank(e)' (Old Norse 'bakke'). It can also be an Anglicized form of the Gaelic O Bruachain 'descendant of Bruachan', a byname for a stocky person. The name dates back to the late 13th Century, (see below). Recordings include one Matthew Banke (1327) 'The Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk', and Nicholaus del Bancke (1379), 'The Poll Tax Records of Yorkshire'. Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Banghe, Banger, Bankes, Banker, etc.. One John Banghe married Sarah Fetter on the 29th June 1607 at St. Andrew by the Wardrobe, London. Jonas Bangs married Mary Springham at St. James Dukes Place, London on January 20th 1697. One Ellen Maria, daughter of William and Hannah Bangs was christened at St. Thomas, Portsmouth on July 20th 1817. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter del Banck, which was dated 1297, in the Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire, during the reign of King Edward 1, known as 'The Hammer of the Scots', 1272 - 1307. 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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