This surname of AXTMAN was originally derived from the Old Norman name ASKETILL. The name has travelled widely in many forms including the spellings Ax, Axman, Axmann, Axcell, Axell and Axtell. A notable member of this name was AXEL (ll28-l20l) the Danish prelate and statesman and founder of the City of Copenhagen. He was the foster brother of Valdemar l The Great whom he helped to the throne in ll57. He was appointed Bishop of Roskilde in ll58 and was elected Archbishop of Lund in ll77. As chief minister to Valdemar he led an army against the Wends in ll69 and extended Danish territories in the Baltic by capturing Rugen. In ll69 he built a fortress at Havn which became a nucleus of Copenhagen. As chief minister to Knut Vl he led an expedition in ll84 that captured Mecklenburg and Pomerania. As Archbishop he was largely responsible for the systematization of Danish Ecclesiastical Law. Early records of the name mention Richard de Asthull, who was documented during the reign of Edward III. (1327-1377). Robertus Astull of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Hugh Astel was recorded as the vicar of Aylmerton in County Norfolk in the year 1371. Thomas, son of John Astill was baptised at St. Mary, Aldermary, London in the year 1722. Over the centuries, most people in Europe have accepted their surname as a fact of life, as irrevocable as an act of God, however much the individual may have liked or disliked the surname, they were stuck with it, and people rarely changed them by personal choice. A more common form of variation was in fact involuntary, when an official change was made, in other words, a clerical error. Among the humbler classes of European society, and especially among illiterate people, individuals were willing to accept the mistakes of officials, clerks and priests as officially bestowing a new version of their surname, just as they had meekly accepted the surname they had been born with. In North America, the linguistic problems confronting immigration officials at Ellis Island in the 19th century were legendary as a prolific source of Anglicization. The name is also spelt Astle and Astel. The associated arms are recorded in Sir Bernard Burkes General Armory. Ulster King of Arms in 1884.