Recorded as Ovington, as well as Obington, Oventon, Houington, Hoovington, and others, this is an English surname. It is locational and tribal, being pre 7th century and originates from the three villages called Ovington in the counties of Essex, Hampshire and Oxford, or perhaps additionally from the village of Oving in Berkshire. All translate as "The place of the Ufa people", an important tribal group in ancient times found as far away as North Yorkshire. Ovington in Hampshire is first recorded in the famous Anglo Saxon Chronicles for the year 960 a.d. as Ufinctune, whilst in Essex and Oxford it appears as Ouituna in the famous Domesday Book of 1086. The name development has included Oventon in 1673, Houington in 1721 and Hoovington in 1818. Locational surnames are usually "from" names. Those were names given to people as easty identification after they left their original homesteads to move somewhere else. In this case the surname is well recorded in the surviving church registers of the city of London from Tudor times. The first example is believed to be that of Thomas Ovington, who married Margaret Rood at the church of St. Lawrence Pountney in 1548. This was during the reign of King Edward V1th, known as "The boy king," 1547 - 1554. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

© Copyright: Name Origin Research 1980 - 2024