This interesting name has four possible origins. The first deriving from the Hebrew personal name Iyov or Job meaning "persecuted one". Job, the central character in the Biblical book of that name, was tormented with boils. Job may also have originated as a nickname for a wretched creature, from the Olde French "job" meaning "sorry wretch". The third suggestion is that Job is a metonymic occupational name for a cooper, deriving from the Medieval English "jubbe" or "jobbe" meaning "a vessel containing four gallons." Finally the name may derive from the Olde French "jube" or "jupe" (a long woollen garment for men) and given to a maker or seller of these garments. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Job which was dated 1202, in the "Fine Court Rolls of Norfolk" 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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