Utterson

This most interesting name has a number of possible origins. Firstly, it is likely that it is an unusual variant of the locational names from Otterton in Devon and Otherton in Staffordshire and Worcester. The former place means "the farm of the otters", from the Olde English words "oter", otter and "tun", farm, while the latter derives from the Olde English elements "other", other and "tun", as before, thus the "other farm". Alternatively, the name may be a patronymic from the Scandinavian personal name "Utrick", hence "Utrickson", later becoming Utterson. Finally, Utterson may be a variant spelling of the surname Ottesen, itself a patronymic form of the Norse personal name "Odd" or the Olde English "Ord", meaning "point of a weapon". The surname first appears in records in the middle of the 14th Century (see below). John Utterston married Issabell Byers on July 24th 1660 at Berwick Upon Tweed, Northumberland. A Coat of Arms was granted to a family called Ulterson at Miland Place, Sussex, and depicts a silver lymphad with sail furled on a sea in base on a silver shield, with three gold coins containing mullets on a red chief. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Utrickson, which was dated 1349, in the "History of Newcastle and Gateshead", by Richard Welford, during the reign of King Edward 111, known as "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377. 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.