Nottingham

Recorded in a wide variety of forms, some very obscure, this surname is English. It is locational from the famous city of Nottingham, the county town of Nottinghamshire, and famous amongst other things for being associated with the outlaw Robin Hood and his claimed disputes with the sheriff of Nottingham. The spellings of this place name are quite extraordinary, and are known to include such forms as Nottingham, Nottingam, Nottyngam, Nottram and exotics such as Nodrum, Notram, Knoweltone, and apparently even Noteyoung! The placename then spelt as Snotengaham is first recorded in the year 868 a.d. in the Anglo Saxon Chronicles, and two centuries later in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Snotingeham. This is from the old English pre 7th century word "ham", meaning a village or homestead, with "-ing", "the people of" and "Snot" an early personal name; hence "the homestead of the Snot tribe". The "s" became lost in the 11th century, whilst the surname itself is first recorded in the mid 13th Century, with early examples of recordings including Ralph de Notingham of Oxfordshire, and Robert de Notingham of Nottinghamshire, both in the Hundred rolls of 1273. Other early examples taken at randon include Annes Nattingham, christened at St. Giles, Cripplegate, on June 11th 1567, Sarah Knowetone, christened at St Katherines by the Tower on May 27th 1610, both city of London, and Thomas Nottram of Stanhope in Durham, on Septemner 17th 1783. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Nottingham. This as dated 1240, in the the year of his election as fourth provincial minister, during the reign of King Henry 111rd of England 1216 - 1272. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop," often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.