Recorded in several forms including Dilger, Dillinger, Tilger and many others, this is a surname of German origins. It is either locational from the town of Dillingen, also spelt at various time as Dillgen and Dilgen, or, according to the dictionary of German Names, it may be a patronymic and developed spelling of the ancient personal name Ottilie. This we find possible but in most cases unlikely, although as some fiften hundred years have elapsed since personal names took on a 'modern' form, and as they were not usually developed as surnames until the Middle Ages from the 14th century, almost anything is possible. What is certain though is that with the exception of the Gaelic countries and Scandanavia, the vast majority of early surnames were residential, indicating either where a person lived, or more more often where they came from. In this case the name is recorded from very early times in Germany, with Konrad Dillinger being recorded in Villingen in 1437, and Mathis Dilger of Tubingen being recorded in the charters of that town in 1456. Other later recordings include Mark Dilger who married Elizabeth Skinner at St Johns Hackney, in the city of London on June 14th 1870. This was a period in history when many people of German origin moved to England, then regarded as the workshop of the world, and the home of skilled workers.

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