This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from a place called Terling in Essex. The placename is recorded as "Terlinges" in the "Codex diplomaticus aevi Saxonici" (1050) and as "Terlingas" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century tribal name "Tyrhtlingas", composed of the personal name "Tyrhtel", with "ingas", people or dependants of; hence "Tyrhtel's people". During the Middle Ages when migration for the purpose of job-seeking was becoming more common, people often took their former village name as a means of identification, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. Recordings of the surname from Essex Church Registers include; Johan, daughter of Clement Tarling, who was christened on March 14th 1591 at Epping; Richard, son of Weston Tarling, who was christened on December 23rd 1599 at Leaden Roding; and George Tarling, who married Love Reade on September 3rd 1610 at Bobbingworth. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Joane Tarlinge, which was dated August 4th 1548, witness at a christening in Epping, Essex, during the reign of King Edward V1, known as "The Boy King", 1547 - 1553. 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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