This most interesting and unusual surname is of Old German origin, and derives from the Old Germanic personal name "Madalgar, Malger" (in Old Norman-French "Maugier"), which is composed of the Germanic elements "madal", council, and "gari, geri", spear. Mauger, Mager and Major are surnames which also derive from this root source, and were introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. One Hugo filius Malgeri appears in the Domesday Book of Essex in 1086, while Malger filius Gilleberti is mentioned in 1150 in "Documents illustrative of the Social and Economic History of the Danelaw". The surname itself first appears in the mid 13th Century (see below), while other recordings include John Malger, mentioned in the Assize Court Rolls of Somerset in 1272, and one Thomas Mauger, recorded in the Cartulary of Oseney Abbey (Oxford) in 1260. John Maygor was christened on November 23rd 1559 at St. Mary Aldermary, London; while Elizabeth, daughter of John and Mary Mayger, was christened on May 17th 1782 at St. Saviour's, Southwark, in London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Mauger, which was dated 1250, in the "Feet of Fines of Somerset", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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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