Forson - Name

This unusual and interesting name is of early Medieval English origin and derives from a byname or nickname, "fair son", from the Middle English "fair", from Old English pre 7th Century "faeger", fair lovely, beautiful, with Middle English "son", son. The modern surname, found as forson and Farson, may also be a patronymic form of the surname "fair", a nickname surname with the derivation from Old English "faeger" as above. The word was also occasionally used as a given name in the Middle Ages, and applied to both men and women. The marriage of Joan Forson and Richard Clements was recorded at Doddinghurst, Essex, on July 22nd 1600, and Elizabeth Forson was christened in London in May, 1657. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richardn Ffayrson, which was dated 1327, The Cambridgeshire Subsidy Rolls, during the reign of King Edward 111, "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377. 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.