Osgood

This unusual name is of Old Norse origin from a personal name introduced into Britain by the Scandinavian setllers of the 8th and 9th Centuries in the form of the Old Norse "Asgautr", found in Old Danish and Old Swedish and "Asgut" and "Asgot". The given name is composed of the elements "as", god, and the tribal name "Gaut", in Old English (pre 7th Century) "Geatas", the Scandinavian people to which the legendary Beowulf belonged. The name was firmly established in England in the Old English forms "Osgot" and "Osgod" before the Norman Conquest of 1066, and after that date was reinforced by the Norman forms "Ansgot" and "Angot". The modern surname from these forms can be found as Osgood, Hosgood, Hosegood, Horsegood, Angood and Angold. One Tristram Osgood appears in the Register of the University of Oxford for the year 1605. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Osgot, which was dated 1202, The Norfolk Feet of Fines, during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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.