This interesting surname of English origin, is either an occupational name for a singer or chorister, or, a nickname for a person who was always singing. It is derived from the Old English pre 7th Century 'sangere' or 'songere' meaning 'singer'. The name dates back to the late 13th Century, (see below). Further recordings include Thomas le Sanggere (1327) 'The Subsidy Rolls of Somersetshire', and John le Sangere (1327) 'The Subsidy Rolls of Essex'. Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Songer, Sangar, Sangster, etc.. One Abraham Sanger married Mary Dodd on the 24th January 1617, at St. Margaret Westminster. John, son of Abraham Sanger, was christened in August 1620 at St. Margaret, Westminster. One Judy Sangar, aged nineteen, a famine emigrant, sailed from Liverpool to New York aboard the Metoka on January 7th 1846. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John le Songere, which was dated 1296, in the 'Middle English Occupational Terms', during the reign of King Edward 1, known as 'The Hammer of the Scots', 1272 - 1307. 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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