Marris - Name

Marris with its alternative forms of Maris and Mares, is of Olde French origins, and was introduced into England after the 1066 Conquest. The name is locational from either Le Marais, a village in Calvados, or from residence at or near marsh land. The derivation is from the ancient words "marais" or "marese" both found in the very earliest of records dating back to the pre 10th century. Those name holders mentioned in the famous 1086 Domesday Book were close supporters of William the Conqueror, and were rewarded with substantial land grants both in Berkshire and Kent. Later name holders moved north, and it was in Yorkshire that the coat of arms was granted. The early recordings include William de Mares in the Kent county pipe rolls for the year 1191, Aldwin de Mareis of the city of Gloucester in 1199, and Henry Mareys of Huntingdon in the register of the abbey of Ramsey in 1275. Later surviving church register records include Edward Marris, who married Anne Cox, at the church of St Gregory and St Paul, on January 6th 1630, and John Marris of Snaith, Yorkshire, who married Margaret Fotherby, on May 27th 1641. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard de Maris, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book for Kent . This was during the reign of King William 1, known as "The Conqueror," 1066 - 1087. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.