This name derives from the Welsh "llwyd" meaning "grey", and was originally given as a nickname either to a grey haired person or to one who habitually wore grey garments. This is an example of that sizeable group of early European surnames that were gradually created from the habitual use of nicknames. The nicknames were given in the first instance with reference to occupation, or to a variety of characteristics, such as physical attributes or peculiarities, mental and moral characteristics, supposed resemblance to an animal's or bird's appearance or disposition, or to habits of dress. The surname is first recorded in the early half of the 14th Century (see below), and early recordings include: Ithell Lloit, who appears in the 1391 Records of Chirk, Wales, and Richard Lloyd, who was recorded in the 1524 Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk. Several namebearers, including: Jenkin Lloyde (County Montgomery), and Griffith Lloid (County Radnor), were entered in the Oxford University Register during the period 1577 - 1585. Edward Lloyd, who flourished circa 1692, kept a coffee-house in Lombard Street, London, and it is from him that the great commercial corporation known as "Lloyd's" derives its name. His premises was the centre of shipbroking and the marine insurance business in the late sixteen hundreds. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Loyt, which was dated 1327, in the "Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire", during the reign of King Edward 111, known as "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377. 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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