This interesting surname is of English locational origin from any of the four places called Ellington; in Huntingdonshire, recorded as Elintune in the Domesday Book of 1086; in Northumberland, recorded as Elingtona in the Red Book of the Exchequer (1166); in the North Riding of Yorkshire, registered as Ellintone in the Domesday Book; and in Kent, registered as Ealdingctuninga mearc in the Cartularium saxonicum (943). The Former three derive from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name "Ella" a short form of the various compound names with the first element being "aelf" an elf plus "tun" a settlement; hence "Ella's settlement". Ellington in Kent has its first element from the Old English byname "Ealda" Old; hence "Ealda's settlement". The surname is first found in the early 13th Century, (see below). One, John de Ellington, is recorded in the Hundred Rolls of Lincolnshire (1274). On March 20th 1569, William Ellington, was christened at St. Botolph, Bishopsgate and Elizabeth Ellington married John Asburne, on June 3rd 1601, at St. Benet Fink, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Elinton, which was dated 1206, Pleas before the King or his Justices, Huntingdonshire, during the reign of King John known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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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