This interesting name has two possible interpretations, although the origin in both cases is Norman, introduced into England after the Conquest of 1066. The first of these is from a diminutive form of the Old French nickname "curt", from the latin "Curtus", meaning curtailed, truncated, cut short, and applied to a short or small person. The second possible source is a locational surname from the place called "Notre-Dame-de-Courson" in Calvados, Normandy, which is so called from the Gallo-Roman personal name "Curtuis", also derived from the Latin "Curtus", - short, with the local genitive suffix "onis". The development of the modern surname has included William de Cursun (1198, Norfolk) and Katherine la Curzoun (1316, Essex). George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquis of Kedleston, (1859 - 1925) was a Conservative statesman and Viceroy of India (1898 - 1905). The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert de Curcon, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of Norfolk, during the reign of King 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.

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