Stratten

This interesting name is of Medieval English origin and is locational from any of the various places so called in for example, Bedfordshire, Dorset, Hampshire, Norfolk, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Surrey, Wiltshire and Cornwall. The derivation of all the above places, except Cornwall, is from the Old English pre 7th Century 'Straet', a Roman Road, and 'tun', a settlement, and the following examples are first recorded spelling of Stratton. 'Stratune' (Domesday Book of 1086 Hampshire) 'Stratone' (Domesday Book Oxfordshire 1086), 'Strattuna' (Domesday Book 1086 Suffolk), Stratton in Cornwall however is recorded in 880 in the Saxon Charters as 'Straetneat on Triconscire', and probably has as its first element the Cornish 'stras', valley. By 1086 the placename is recorded simply as Stratone. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard de Stratton, which was dated 1199, in the Dorset Placenames, 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.