Suff

This interesting and unusual surname, with variant spelling Suffe, recorded in English church registers from the mid 17th Century, is believed to have originated as a regional name for someone from further south in the County, or perhaps from Suffolk. The derivation is from the Old English pre 7th Century, "suth", meaning south. Suffolk was initially recorded as "Suthfolchi" in "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", dated 895, and translates as "The southern folk". The initial element of Suffield in Norfolk was recorded as "Suth" in the Domesday Book of 1086, as was that of Suffield in the North Riding of Yorkshire, showing a transition, in all cases, from "Suth" to "Suff". On November 20th 1667, Mary Suff and Richard Dawson were married in Broome, Norfolk, and on March 6th 1691, Mary, daughter of Andrew Suffe, was christened in Cookham, Berkshire. The marriage of Sarah Suff to Edmond Staples took place in St. John's, Hackney, London, on July 21st 1725. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Elianor Suffe, (christening), which was dated December 20th 1663, Painswick, Gloucestershire, during the reign of King Charles 11, "The Merry Monarch", 1660 - 1685. 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.