This unusual and interesting name is of Norman origin, introduced into England after the Conquest of 1066. It is a metonymic occupational name for someone who made cloaks or mantles, overgarments, or it can be a nickname for someone who wore a cloak of a particularly conspicuous design. The derivation is from the Anglo-Norman French word "mantel", cloak or coat, from the Latin "mantellus". The modern surname has a variety of forms, from Mantle and Mantel to Mantell. The surname is distinguished by being first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. Other early recordings include: Robert Mantell, in the Pipe Rolls of Berkshire in 1176; Robert Mantel, in the Hundred Rolls of Buckinghamshire in 1273; and John Mauntel, in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1273. Recordings from London Church Registers include the marriage of Ann Mantle and John Tisdall at St. Bartholomew the Less, on April 2nd 1594, and the christening of Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Pett and Susannah Mantle, on March 30th 1685, at St. Olave's, Southwark. A Coat of Arms granted to a Mantell family in Kent depicts a black cross engrailed between four black martlets on a silver shield. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Turstinus Mantel, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of Buckinghamshire, during the reign of King William 1, 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.

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