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| Origins Available: |
| | England |
The Rhymes surname is of Norman origin, thought to be derived from the place name Rames in Seine-Inférieure, Normandy.
The surname Rhymes was first found in Essex where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Metinges. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, 1 indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Metinge and the lands of Ramesdune in Suffolk, where Roger de Rames was an under-tenant who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086. The Rames castle in Normandy was near the forest, west of Bolbec. Roger was given considerable lands in England and directly related to the Mandevilles and the d'Estouteville.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Rhymes research. Another 91 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1260 and 1273 are included under the topic Early Rhymes History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Sound was what guided spelling in the Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Rhymes family name include Raimes, Rames, Reams, Ramis, Raimis, Reymes, Rheims, Rhymes and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Rhymes Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In the United States, the name Rhymes is the 10,029th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2
To escape the political and religious chaos of this era, thousands of English families began to migrate to the New World in search of land and freedom from religious and political persecution. The passage was expensive and the ships were dark, crowded, and unsafe; however, those who made the voyage safely were encountered opportunities that were not available to them in their homeland. Many of the families that reached the New World at this time went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations of the United States and Canada. Research into various historical records has revealed some of first members of the Rhymes family to immigrate North America: