Despite its appearance, this name is nevertheless a variant spelling of the famous early medieval "marion", itself a diminutive translating as "Little Mary" or "Son of Mary". Quite why the "M" and "N" in the Suffix of the name have been transposed, is one of the minor mysteries of the English language, but such changes are almost always owing to dialectual misunderstandings. The name recordings include Anne Maryam who married William Burges at St. Mary Somerset, London in 1586, John Merriam registered at St. Brides, Fleet street, London in 1705, whilst Joshua Mirams was married to Louisa Edwards at St. Pancras Olde Church on June 19th 1847. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Elsabeth Marram, which was dated 1547, christened at St. Margarets, Westminster, during the reign of King Henry VIII, "Good King Hal", 1510 - 1548. 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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