Skeech

This very unusual and interesting name has two possible origins. Firstly, it can be a variant form of the name 'Skeat', also found as Skeats, Skett, Skeet, Sketch and Skitch, which is of Old Norse origin from the nickname or byname 'Skjotr', meaning 'the swift, fleet one', and also used as a personal name. It is recorded as such in the Domesday Book of 1086 for Norfolk, as 'Scet' and 'Schett'. The surname development from this source includes Nicholas Sket (1201, Shropshire), Robert Skeet (1327, Suffolk), Robert Skedge (1547, Norfolk) and Alice Sketch (1687, Yorkshire). The second possible origin for the name 'Skeech' or 'Skeach' is Scottish, from the locational name 'Skeoch', which derives from the places so called in Ayrshire, Dumfriesshire and Stirling. The surname from this source is the first recorded (see below). Sir John Skewych or Skeocht was procurator in Glasgow in 1553. One Elizabeth Skeech married William Frew in Ayr in January 1770. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Sceoch, which was dated 1507, Protocols of the town clerks of Glasgow, during the reign of King James 1V, King of Scotland, 1488-1513. 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.