Scutts

This interesting name is of Medieval English origin and is the patronymic form of the occupational name Scutt, the 's' denoting 'son of', and would be given to a scout or a spy. The derivation of this surname is from the Old French 'escoute', to listen. However it may also be a nickname surname for a fast runner, or someone who could move with speed, deriving from the Middle English 'scut', originally meaning the tail of a hare, particularly noticeable when the animal was fleeing, and later for the hare itself. Amongst sample recordings in London are the christenings of Mary Scutts on March 4th 1743, at All Hallows the Great, and Elizabeth Scutts on August 1814 at St. Mary Battersea. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Godwin Scut, which was dated 1183, Pipe Rolls of Norfolk, during the reign of King Henry 11, 'The Builder of Churches', 1154 - 1189. 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.