As with many Old Norse personal names such as "Arnkell" composed of the disparate elements "arn", eagle, and "ketil", cauldron, double-barrelled names, (usually created following a marriage between two families), have no overall meaning, but the separate elements have their own meaning and derivation. In this instance, the name Booth derives from the Medieval English "both(e)", itself coming from the Old Scandinavian "both" meaning "cowshed" or "herdsman's hut", and was originally given as a topographical name to one resident in such a temporary shelter. Gilbert del Both noted in the 1274, "Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield", Yorkshire, is the earliest recorded namebearer from this source. Jarvis derives from the Norman personal name Gervase having as its first element the Germanic "geri", meaning "spear", plus "vase", vassal; hence, "spear-vassal". one, Johannes Jerwas was recorded in the 1379, "Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire". Interesting namebearers were Mrs. Catherine Booth (1829-1890), known as the "Mother of the Salvation Army", and Charles Jarvis (1675-1739), royal portrait-painter, and translator of "Don Quixote". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Geruas, which was dated 1202, The Pipe Rolls of Shropshire", 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.

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