Stodit

This rare and unusual surname is possibly best known as an acronym for a university course! The course was originally known as ''Storia del dirittio italia'' (Stodit) - or the history of the laws of Italy. When we found the course reference we thought for a few moments that we might have found the origin of the surname, - but this seems extremely unlikely. The course is American late 20th century, whilst the surname is considerably older - although almost certainly not in this spelling. If we start with what we know - Stodit is apparently only recorded in the USA, and then in small numbers, who may well be related. The USA was for at least two centuries, the main repository of the misspelt surname as emigrants poured in from Ireland, Scotland, Scandanavia, Germany, Russia, Italy and almost everywhere else. With fifty nationalities and several hundred local dialects, a major recording problem was created for the early emigration officials. They rapidly developed their dislike of ''aliens'' - which continues to this day, and undoubtedly many ''new'' names were created at the dockside. That said the problem with misspelt names is first proving they are misspelt. This relies on an assessment. What is the probable native origin and language? Does the spelling make sense? What does it sound like? What is it most like? From this we try to find a cross-over recording. It does happen, very occasionally, but not usually between two continents. However in this case we are prepared to go out on a limb and say that the original spelling was German, and from Stodt or Stott - because there are so few other options. These surnames derive from the medieval Germanic ''stoter'' meaning a cattle farmer or stodtmeister. A ''family tree'' based around the relatively few known Stodit nameholders in the USA might provide an answer. If Stodt was the origin, the first known recording was in Bremen, Germany, in circa 1400.