Aurelius - Name

The ultimate origin of this personal name is the late Latin "Aurum" meaning "gold", which in turn gave rise to the adjective "Aureolus" and its diminutive form "Aureus". It is interesting to note that the Old Provencal and Catalan word "Oriol" (yellow bird) gave rise to the pet name "Oriol" which was used to describe a man with bright yellow hair. Oriol shares the same root meaning as Aureolus, so that Aurelius would have become a name for "the People of the Golden hair". One Anne Aurilius was christened in the French Huguenot Church at Threadneedle Street in London on 23rd September 1610 as was Daniel Aurelius on the 9th November 1620. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger Oriel, which was dated 1276, Pipe Rolls Buckinghamshire, during the reign of King Edward I, "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.