Double-barrelled surnames were usually created following a marriage between two families, and have no overall meaning as a unit, but the separate parts have their own history and derivation. In this instance, the name Nunes is of Spanish and Portuguese origin, and is from a medieval given name, which is first attested in the Latin forms "Nunnius" and "Nonnius", and derives from the Latin "nonus", ninth. The name would have been given to someone who had some association with the ninth, for example, the ninth child, or one born on the ninth day/month. On May 8th 1575, Beatris, daughter of Sebastiam and Iria Nunes, was born at Santa Beatriz, Agua de Pena, Funchal, Portugal, and Casilda Nunes married Juan de Pena Fiel on April 12th 1581, at Santa Maria Magdalena, Valladolid, Spain. Nabarro is also of Spanish origin, and is a regional name from Navarre (Spanish "Navarra"), now divided between Spain and France, but in the Middle Ages it was an independent Basque Kingdom. The placename may be named from the Spanish "nava", flat, treeless area of upland. Locational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, usually to seek work, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. Francisco Navarro was born in 1510, at Madrid, Spain, and Bernardino Nabarro married maria Garzon at San Torcuato, Esguevillas de Esgueva, Vallodolid, Spain, on January 18th 1587. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Izabel Nunes, which was dated 1470, in the Birth Registers at Gaula-Madeira, Funchal, Portugal, during the reign of Alfonso V of Portugal, known as "The African", 1438 - 1481. 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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