Million - Name

Recorded in several spellings forms including Million, Millions, Millyan, Mallion, and Mellion, this is an English surname, but is possibly medieval French in origin, and certainly a surname of complex origins. It is probably locational and from the town of Moulin in France, but arguably could be from one or all of the various English places such as Melling in Lancashire, Millom in Cumberland, or Malling in Kent. What is certain is that it has nothing whatsoever to do with riches or possessions! The famous record system known as the IGI or International Genealogical Index, gives over twenty associated spellings from which this surname could have developed.These include Molines, Mollins and Millin, so clearly there are many options, the common factor is that most, if not all, are locational surnames. These were surnames given to people after they left their original homes and moved elsewhere. Local dialects being very 'thick', and spelling at best erractic, lead to the development of 'sounds like' surnames of which this is one. Examples of the recordings in England taken from surviving church registers of the Elizabethan times give no hint of any 'foreign' influence. This clearly indicates that if the name was French in origin, then it was from several centuries earlier. These early recordings include Mararet Mellion who married Lawrance Goff at St Peters church, Cornhill, on July 9th 1585, William Million, a witness at St Andrews Holborn, on April 18th 1630, and Robert Millions, whose daughter Jane, was christened at St Mary Whitechapel, on June 12th 1797, all in the ancient city of London.