This name is of Northern English locational origin from a place thus called in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Recorded as Chel(l)inctone in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as Kelington in the 1190 Pipe Rolls of that county the first element of the placename is the old English pre 7th Century personal name Cylla, (recorded as Cyllan in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, dated 772), plus "ing", "people of", and "tun", a farm or settlement; hence, "the settlement of Cylla's people". The surname with variant spellings Kelenton, Kelinton and Kellinton, is particularly well recorded in Yorkshire church registers from the late 16th Century. On May 14th 1601 Anne, daughter of John Kellington, was christened in Snaith, and on April 28th 1624 Willmus, son of Johis Kellinton, was christened in All Saints Pavement, Yorkshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of George Kelenton, (christening), which was dated November 1st 1588, Snaith, Yorkshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, "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.

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