This English post medieval locational surname is a variant spelling of the Olde Gloucester village name "Kingscote" recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as "Chingescote" and later in 1191 as "Kingescota". The meaning is less obvious than it may sound. The basic translation is "The Kings Cottage", this may refer to a royal hunting lodge, but more likely is a cottage owned by a person called "King" - the popular medieval nickname surname and earlier personal name. The variant developments from Kingscott (1620) to Kingshott (1790), seem to include the link name Kinscot recorded in 1739, whilst an associated recording is Jonathon Kingshot a witness as St. Dunstan's Church, Stepney, London on May 27th 1798. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry Kingshott, which was dated December 19th 1794, married Elizabeth Kingett at St. Martins-in- the-Field, Westminster, during the reign of King George III, "Farmer George", 1760 - 1820. 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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