This name is an English locational surname. It originates from the little town of Macclesfield in the county of Cheshire, first recorded as 'Maclesfeld' in the famous Domesday Book of 1086. The place name and hence the later surname is believed to derive from the Olde English pre 7th century personal or tribal name name 'Macca', plus 'leah, a clearing or farm and 'feld', a large area of unfenced farm land suitable for grazing. Hence "Macca's farm by the open land". It is uncertain as to when the surname was first recorded, but examples taken from early surviving authentic church registers include those of Ales Maxfield, who married Robert Hale at the church of St. John the Baptist, Chester, on March 14th 1564, whilst on August 17th 1646, John Maxfield and Katherine Burslam were married at Audley Lawton, near Astbury also in Cheshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is possibly that of John Maxfield, when he was a christening witness at St. Antholin's church, in the city of London in 1539. This was during the reign of King Henry VIIIth of England, known to his subjects as 'Bluff King Hal', but more famous for the treatment of his six wives. He reigned from 1509 to 1547. Throughout the centuries surnames in every country have continued to "develop", often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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