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Dallison

“Recorded in the spellings of Dallison and Dalliston, this unusual and interesting name is of pre 10th century Old French origin.  Introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066, the surname is locational, from a place called “Alençon” in the Orne region of North West France.  To this has been added the fused preposition “de”.  

The surname from this source is distinguished by being first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 (see below), and further early recordings include: Alexander Dalencun and William Dalizun in circa 1250, Norfolk, and Nicholas Dalasson (1378) in the Calendar of Letter Books of the City of London.  London Church Records list the marriages of William Dallyson to Elizabeth Allyn, on August 19th 1544, at Christ Church, Greyfriars, Newgate, and Thomas Dallison to Mary Maywell, on January 18th 1649, at St. Margaret’s, Westminster.  

A Coat of Arms granted to the family is silver, on a blue pile engrailed, three silver crescents.  The Crest is the gold sun, rising from clouds proper.  The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Bernard de Alençon, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of Suffolk, during the reign of King William I, known as “The Conqueror”, 1066 – 1087.  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^⁠2.”

Searching on the same website for DARLISON gives a completely different take on the derivation:

“Recorded in several spellings including Darlaston, Darleston, Darliston, Darlasson, Darlison, Darlisson, Darlston, and no doubt others, this is an English locational surname.  It originates either Dalston, a village in Cumbria, or Dalston in Middlesex, but more usually from the town of Darlaston in Staffordshire near Stone.  The place itself is truly ancient being recorded over one thousand years ago in 956 a.d. as Deorlaustun, meaning “Deorleifs settlement”.  Deorleif literally meaning “dear friend” was an early personal and baptismal name with possibly Viking origins.  It may also be the prefix in the villages of Dalston, although it is extremely unlikely that it was the same person.  Locational surnames were usually “from” names.  Those were names generally given to people after they left their original villages to move somewhere else, and were best identified by being called after them.  Spelling over the centuries being at best erratic, and local dialects very thick, often lead to the creation of “sounds like” forms.  Examples of the surname recordings include Sarah Darlston, christened at St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on September 2nd 1642, Anne Darleston at St Peters Cornhill, on February 11th 1677, Isaac Darliston at St Mary Whitechapel, on October 6th 1782, and William Darlisson at St Mary-le-Bone, on March 25th 1821^⁠3.”

So, we have immediately come across a conflict in possible source of the surname.  From a personal point of view my surname was originally DARLISON when the family lived in Warwickshire.  However, when the family moved to Nottinghamshire they permanently changed the spelling to DALLISON.  Interestingly, when some of the DALLISON descendants moved to Yorkshire they changed the spelling back to DARLISON.  Nothing in family history is straightforward.

Types of Surnames

The Guild of One-Name Studies definition of the type of surname: 

This confirms Malcolm’s interpretation of the surname as follows:

The modern name, DALLISON is undoubtedly derived from the French d’Alençon or d’Alençon.  Which in centuries, gone by, when surnames were not used, simply gave an indication of your town of birth.  Hence, we have for instance Jean (John) de Alençon (of Alençon).  Alençon which is a large important town in Normandy France.  It is important to remember also the spelling of names was very often inaccurate in the Middle Ages few people could read or write and many documents were also written in Latin and later transcribed into Old English.  Even in the last century, it was not uncommon for instance for people to “make their mark” (usually an “X”) instead of writing a signature.  Thus, it is not surprising that there are now a number of variants in the name spelling.  The [early] commonest being:

• de Alenzun
• de Alaunson
• Alazon
• Alençun

And in modern times:

• Dalison
• Dallinson
• Dallison
• Dalliston
• Darlison