Wagon - Name

This interesting surname is of Old German and Dutch origin, and is an occupational name for a carter or cartwright. The derivation is from the Old High German "wagan" (Middle High German "wagen"), cognate with the Old Dutch "wagen", a wagon, or carriage for the conveyance of persons and goods. The modern English word "waggon" was borrowed in the 16th Century from the Dutch. Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. The name, with variant spellings Wawgyn, Waughan, Waugon, Waggen, Wagan and Waggon, is well recorded in English Church Registers from the mid 16th Century; examples include: the christening of Henrye, son of Liberd Waggen, at St. Nicholas', Colchester, Essex, on June 12th 1547, and the marriage of Griffine Waughan to Marie Sparrowe at St. Katherine by the Tower, London, on August 15th 1591. The name was introduced into France by English immigrants prior to the 17th Century as the following recording shows: Jenne, son of Bartholemie Wagon, christened at Conde-sur-l'es-Caut, Nord, France, on October 23rd 1621. It re-entered England with the arrival of French Huguenot refugees fleeing religious persecutions in their own country from the late 15th Century, and recordings include, the christening of Marie, daughter of Jean Wagon, at the Walloon or Strangers Church, Canterbury, Kent, on October 5th 1625. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Wawgyn, which was dated 1545, marriage to Christian Phillibrown, at Terling, Essex, during the reign of King Henry V111, known as "Bluff King Hal", 1509 - 1547. 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.