This is an ancient English name of Anglo-Saxon origin, which has the fairly uncommon distinction of surviving the Norman Conquest and the later influx of Norman names, almost in fact, up to the present day. The surname Godwin and its variant forms such as Godwyn, Goodwin, Goodwyn, and the patronymic form Goodwins, "son of Go(o)dwin", derive from the popular Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Godwine", composed of the elements "god", meaning either "god" or "good", with "wine", friend, protector, lord. Goodwin appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as the personal name "Goduin", and is first recorded as a surname in 1177, in Walter Godwin, listed in the Norfolk Pipe Rolls for that year. One Elizabeth, daughter of William Goodwin was christened at St. Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey, on September 4th 1550. Henry Goodwin married Johan Boyser, at St. Margaret's, Westminster, Lonon, on January 16th 1564. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Godewynes, which was dated 1327, in the "Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire", during the reign of King Edward 11, known as "Edward of Caernafon", 1307 - 1327. 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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