Sussex - Name

This name is of English locational origin from the county so called. Originally a tribal name South Saxon, recorded as Sud Seaxe in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, dated 607 AD., was later used as of their county. Sussex was first recorded as Sud Seeaxna Lond in the above chronicle in the year 733 and as Suth-Seaxa c.894 - "Asser's Life of King Alfred". The spelling Sudsexe appears in the Domesday Book of 1066. The surname from this source is well recorded in London Church Registers from the mid 16th Century onwards, (see below). On February 27th 1586, the marriage of Edeth Sussex and John Goldinge is entered in the registers of St. Botolph, Bishopgate. Augustus Frederick, sixth son of George 111 (1773 - 1843), held the title Duke of Sussex. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of James Sussex, which was dated June 14, 1560 who was christened at St. Martin in the fields, Westminster. during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.