Recorded as Schutt, Schutte, and Schutter, this is usually a Germany surname, but can be English from the same period. It has no less than four possible origins. Firstly it may come from the Medieval English word 'schutte' meaning to shoot. As such the name may have been an occupational name for an archer. Secondly it may be a variant of 'Shute'. This is a locational name from a hamlet in the county of Devonshire, so called from the Old English word 'sceat', meaning a hill or projection, which is correct as this village is on a prominent.hill. Thirdly the name may be German from 'schutze', an occupational word for a bowman. Finally the surname may be a Dutch cognative also from 'schutz', but in this case describing an armed watchman. Amongst the very earliest of all recordings are those of Herman Schutto in the charters of the city of Koln, Germany, in the year 1150, whilst Liuricus Shitte was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of Suffolk., England, in 1165. John Schut appears in the Subsidy Rolls of Suffol in 1327, and Hans Schutter is recorded at Strasburg in 1424. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Wulfsige Scytta, which was dated circa 1050, the Old English Bynames (Hertfordshire), during the reign of King Edward, known as "The Confessor", 1042 - 1066. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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