This long-established surname has two distinct possible sources, each with its own history and derivation. Firstly, Walbrun may be of early medieval German origin, deriving from the Old High German male given name "Waldebrun(us)", a compound of the elements "wald", rule, and "brun", brown. Pre 7th Century Olde English and Germanic personal names were usually distinct compounds whose elements were often associated with the Gods of Fire, Water and War, or composed of disparate elements. Early examples of the surname include: Kusa Walbrun (Wetzlar, 1337), and Eberh Walbrun (Stuttgart, 1350). The second possibility is that Walbrun is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and a locational name from the parish of Walburn in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Recorded as "Walebrune" in 12th Century Documents relating to Yorkshire, and as "Walbrun" in the Feet of Fines, dated 1222, the component elements of the placename are the Olde English pre 7th Century "walh, wealh", Briton, Welsh, and "brunna", the original form of "burna", spring, brook, stream; hence, "stream of the Britons or Welsh". In 1296, one Robert Walebrun was noted in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex. A Coat of Arms granted to the Wal(l)brun family of Germany is recorded heraldically in Rietstap's "Armorial General" and depicts three silver lozenges on an azure shield, the Crest being a silver lozenge between two azure proboscides. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Bischof Walbrun, which was dated 1253, in "Early Medieval Records of Mainz", Germany, during the reign of Conrad 1V, Hohenstauffen Ruler, 1250 - 1254. 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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