This interesting surname, with variant spellings Ormond and Orman, has two possible origins. Firstly, it may be an Anglicized form of the old Gaelic-Irish surname "O'Ruaidh", composed of the elements "O" meaning male descendant of and "Ruaidh" red, refering to someone with red hair or rosy cheeks. At first it was known as O'Rooe but was altered by folk etymology to resemble a region in east Munster known as Ormond. The surname is found in the counties Cork and Waterford area. It has also been suggested that the surname recorded in England in the late 14th Century, (see below), originated from the personal name Osmond. This Norman-English name derives from the Old English pre 7th Century "os" meaning God and "mund" protector. A famous namebearer being, sir James Ormonde, who was lord-treasurer of Ireland and was knighted for services in Ireland during Simnel's rising, he died 1497. His father was James Butler, fifth earl of Ormonde. On June 1845, Alfred Ormonde married Waverley Scott, at St. Clement Danes, Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Ormunde, which was dated 1379, in the "Yorkshire Poll Tax Records", during the reign of King Richard 11, known as "Richard of Bordeaux", 1378 - 1400. 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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