This rare and unusual surname is a dialectal variant of the medieval personal name "Marion", a diminutive of the given name Mary, itself coming from the Latin "Maria", from "mar" meaning drop, plus "yam", sea. Variations in the spelling of the surname include Malyan, Malyn, Mallyon, Mallyan, Malyns, Malynes, and Malines. The surname dates back to the mid 14th Century (see below). Church Records include the christenings of Samuel, son of Samuel and Anne Malyon, on March 25th 1755 at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, and Thomas, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Malyon, on October 21st 1750 at St. Mary Magdalene's, Old Fish Street. Hanah, daughter of Thomas and Mary Mallyon, was christened on September 14th 1755 at St. Sepulchre's. A Coat of Arms granted to the family is ermine, on a green chevron between three falcons proper gold belled, three crosses moline. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Malyon, which was dated 1351 - 1354, in the "Personal Names of Essex", 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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