Recorded in several forms including Rising, Risen and Risson, this is an English surname. It is locational from the village called Rising Castle or Wood Rising, both in the county of Norfolk, and both recorded as "Risinga" in the famous Domesday Book of 1086. The placenames and hence the later surnames derive from the Olde English pre 7th century "hrising" meaning the place by brushwood", or possibly from the tribal name "Risingas", meaning the Risa people. The surname is very early being first recorded in the early 13th century as shown below. Other early recordings include Simon de Rising in the Hundred Rolls of Norfolk in 1273, and Roger de Wode Rising in the Feet of Fines of Norfolk in 1286. Recordings from later surviving church registers of the city of London include: the christening of Margaret Rysying on October 14th 1541, at St. Margaret's, Westminster; the christening of Christopher Rysinge, on November 30th 1573, at St. Margaret's, Westminster; the christening of John Rising on June 10th 1587, at St. Dunstan's in the East. One John Rising (1756 - 1815) was a portrait and subject painter; his paintings were regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1785 - 1815. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger de Rysing, which was dated 1228, in the "Subsidy Rolls of Norfolk", 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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