This most interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a variant of "Helms", itself a topographical name for someone who lived or worked at a rough temporary shelter for animals, or an occupational name for a herdsman, from the Olde English pre 7th Century word "helm", a covering, but later meaning a roofed shelter for cattle. The plural form represents a survival of the Olde English genitive case, denoting "of" such a place. Other variants of the surname from this source are Helme (found in Lancashire) and Helms. Helm itself may also be of German origin, either a metonymic occupational name for a maker of hats, helmets, from the Germanic, Olde English "helm", helmet. The surname is first recorded in England, in the late 12th Century (see below), and William Helmis is mentioned in 1279, in the Hundred Rolls of Berkshire. The Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield record one Hugh del Helm in 1296 in Yorkshire, while Richard atte Helme is noted in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcester in 1327. Chunrad Halm married Anne Schulmeisterlin on February 19th 1525, at Millefranken, Muernberg Stadt, Bayern; and Anna Halmus married Jocab Behmer on February 18th 1613, at Mosbach, Krautheim, Wuertt (Germany). Frederick Halms married Mary Dykes at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster, on March 3rd 1767. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Nicholas de Helm, which was dated 1180, in the "Pipe Rolls of Surrey", during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 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.1154 - 1189.

© Copyright: Name Origin Research 1980 - 2024