Recorded in various forms including Ong, Onge, and the diminutive Ongin or Ongen, this is a surname of English origins. It derives from the pre 7th century word 'geong', of which the most popular manifestation as a surname is 'Young'. The meaning is an endearment 'the young one' and as such at may have originally been a nickname, but almost certainly was baptismal, and probably patronymic. The most popular spellings of the surname are in addition to Young, Yong, Younge, Yonge, and Youngs. It is said that 'Ong' is also found as an anglicised form of a Chinese name, but if so this is a recent development and has no bearing on British name holders. The 'modern' name recordings would seem to be early 17th Century, which is really too late for surname creation (except as a variant), and this would seem to confirm that we have the correct derivation. Early examples of recordings date back to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, effectively the earliest English scrolls, and include Wilferd seo Iunga of 744 a.d., and later Richard le Yunge of Lichfield in circa 1200. The surname development continues with Walter Yonge of Sussex in the 1296 Subsidy Rolls of that county, and John Yong at St Peters Church, Cornhill, London in 1561. Other recordings include Jone Ounge of Wiltshire in 1619 and Clement Onge of the same county in 1665. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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