This rare and interesting surname is of Scottish origin, and is habitational from a place in the former county of Aberdeenshire, now part of the Grampian region. The placename is derived from the Gaelic "crom(b)", meaning crooked, or the ancient British cognomen of this word, an ancestor of the Welsh "crwn". The Gaelic "b" is silent, and the local pronunciation as well as most old deeds omit it, as in Cromee, Cromy, Cromie, Crommay and Crumy, in the "Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland". The placename was first recorded in 1423, when one Patrick of Cromby, chaplain of Scotland, had a safe conduct into England. One David Crommy was admitted burgess of Aberdeen in 1516, recorded in the "Miscellany of the New Spalding Club", Aberdeen, and Thomas Crommy was a witness in Aberdeen in 1567. Crummay is very rare in Scotland, and is mainly found recorded in Northern England. Recorded in the English Church Registers are the christening of James, son of John Crummy, on January 22nd 1772 at Stokesley, Yorkshire, and the marriages of Catherine Crummay and George Beard on June 14th 1829 at Manchester Cathedral, Lancashire, and of Hugh Crummay and Margaret Luckman on October 27th 1861, also at Manchester Cathedral. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Crumby, chaplain, which was dated 1450, witness in Brechin, Scotland, during the reign of King James 11 of Scotland, 1437 - 1460. 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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