Last name: Redmond
SDB Popularity ranking: 554

This interesting surname, now widespread in the Leinster county of Wexford, was introduced into Ireland at the time of the Anglo-Norman Invasion (1169 - 1170). It derives from the Norman personal name "Raimund" or "Raimond", itself coming from the Old Germanic "Raginmund", a compound of the elements "ragin", counsel, plus "mund", protection. One Giraldus Reimundus was noted in the "Domesday Book" of 1086 for Essex, and Alexander Raymond (see below), was of the same stock as Raymond le Gros, one of the best known of the Anglo-Norman invaders. The name soon became Redmond, and the family obtained considerable grants of land in Co. Wexford. The Redmonds were recognised as a leading sept in the barony of Forth in that county, and notable bearers of the name include Chevalier Gabriel Redmond (1713 - 1789), who served with distinction on the Continent with the Irish Brigade, and John Edward Redmond (1855 - 1918), leader of the Irish Party in the British House of Commons. The MacRedmond family of Co. Mayo, from the Gaelic "MacReamoinn", are also of Norman stock, MacRedmond being the name assumed by the great family of Burke. The surname Redmond is taken to be almost exclusively Irish, but there are examples of the name from at least the mid 16th Century in England; Margaret Redmonde was christened at St. Dunstan in the East, London, on September 7th 1565. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alexander Raymond (the first of the name in Ireland) which was dated circa 1170, "Early Medieval Records of Co. Wexford", during the reign of Rory O'Connor, "The last native High King of Ireland", 1166 - 1175. 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.