This most interesting surname which is widespread in the Channel Islands, and particularly Guernsey, may have derived from two possible origins. The first and most likely is that the surname derives from the Latin personal name "Galenus", from either the Latin "gallina", meaning a hen, or "gallus", a cock, and also the root of the personal names "Galienus" (masculine) and "Galiena" (feminine). The personal name is also recorded in its medieval Latin form as "Galen" (see below). Secondly, though less likely, the surname may have derived from the Old German female name "Galiena", from "gail", meaning lofty. This was also the origin of the surnames Gallon and Gallyon. Galiena itself is recorded in the Curia Rolls of Yorkshire in the year 1219, and occurs frequently in early records, whilst John Galen appears in rolls of city of Sheffield in 1358. The surname Galien or Gallienne is the French equivalent from the same origin. Gallienus was the name of a Roman Emperor and philosopher (218 - 168) who, while devoting his efforts to the defence of the empire, gave several provinces, including Gaul, their own ruler. Leonard Gallienne married Elizabeth le Messuruer on November 15th 1647 at St. Saviour, Guernsey, and Anne Galien married George Husson on January 7th 1687 at Pagny-sur-Moselle, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Turstinus Galien, which was dated 1190, in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire, during the reign of King Richard 1st, known as "The Lionheart", 1189 - 1199.

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