This is a English locational surname, which originates from the village of Fillingham, in the county of Lincolnshire. The place name is Old English pre 7th century, although the surname is much later, by perhaps one thousand years. The name translates as "The settlement (tun) of the Fygla tribe (ing)", the village being first recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as "Figelingeham". Locational surnames were usually given either to the lord of the manor and his descendants, in which case it tended to remain in the area, or it was given to former inhabitants of the village when they moved elsewhere, in which case it became spread over a large area, and usually developed many spelling forms. In this case we seem to have something of both, suggesting that there may have been some "emigration" from the village in the late 16th century, with the epi-centres of the name moving to Blyth and Haxey in Lincolnshire, and to London. Early examples of the surname recordings taken from surviving church registers of the period include Roger Fillingham, who married Agnes Clarke at Waddington, Lincolnshire, on June 17th 1597, Dorothie Fillingham, christened at Blyton, also Lincoln, on July 1st 1608, and in London, John Fillingham, who married Penelope Swallow at St Benet's by St Pauls, on June 15th 1665. The first recording is belived to be that of Anthonie Fillingham, a witness at Edlington, Lincolnshire, on March 2nd 1587. This was in the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st, 1558 - 1603.

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