Recorded as Rulton, Rulten, Ruilton, and Rualton, this is an English surname. It is locational from either Rolleston in the county of Nottinghamshire, Rolleston in Leicestershire, Staffordshire and Wiltshire, or Rowlston in Yorkshire. The former placename, recorded as "Roldeston" in the Domesday Book of 1086, is composed of the Old Norse personal name "Hroald" and the Olde English "tun", homestead, village; while the latter placenames are all composed of the Old Norse personal name "Hrolfr" (Rolf), composed of the Germanic elements "hrod", renown, and "wulf", wolf, and "tun", as above. The surname first appears in the late 12th Century (see below), while early recordings include Robert de Rolleston who was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Nottinghamshire in 1181; the marriage of William Rowlston and Mary Atkinson on January 14th 1507 at Wilford, Nottinghamshire; the marriage of William Rulton and Jane Forster on September 30th 1666 at St. James', Clerkenwell, city of London; the christening of Susan, daughter of Thomas and Ann Rulton on July 23rd 1746 at Folkestone, Kent; the marriage of Robert Ruilton and Rebecca Fleetham on December 14th 1761, at St. Cuthbert Barton, in Yorkshire, and finally Stephen Rulten, who married Ann Beacon at St Leonards Shoreditch, on September 17th 1870. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Simon de Roluestona. This was dated 1170, in the Pipe Rolls of Leicestershire, during the reign of King Henry 11nd of England, 1154 - 1189. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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