Forge - Name

This interesting name is of early medieval English and French origin, and is a topographical name for someone who lived near a forge or a smithy. The surname derives from the Middle English and Old French word 'forge', from the Latin 'fabrica', workshop, a derivative of 'faber', workman. In many cases the surname would have come to be used to mean the smith himself or his assistants and servants, by indirect association. There are no particular variants of the English surname, unusually, but a number of French ones, such as 'Forgue', 'Farge(s)' and the diminutives 'Forgette', 'Fargeon' and 'Farjon'. One John, son of Stephen and Jane Farge, was christened at St. Stephan's, Coleman Street, London, on January 1691, and, in France, Francois Farge was christened on October 16th 1798 in Burzet, Ardeche. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ralph del Forge, which was dated 1297, The Coram Regius Rolls, Yorkshire, during the reign of King Edward 1, 'The Hammer of the Scots', 1272 - 1307. 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.