This interesting surname has a number of possible origins. As a purely English name, it is medieval in origin and a topographical name denoting someone who lived by or at a muddy place, derived from the early Middle English word "sclott". The modern surname, also found as "Slot" and "Slott", may also derive from the northern Middle English and Scottish word "slot", itself derived from the Old Germanic "slut", which originally meant door-bolt, lock, and by extension, castle. The surname from this source may therefore be a metonymic occupational name for a locksmith, or a topographical name for someone who lived in or near a castle. The surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 13th Century, (see below). Recordings of the surname from the English church registers include; the marriage of Elizabeth Slot and Paul Pepper, which took place at St. James in Dover, on January 23rd 1686; on June 22nd 1756, Sarah Sloat married Roger Paxton at St. Botolph Bishopsgate, London; and Ann Hannah Sloat was christened at St. Saviour, Soutwark, London on April 29th 1757. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter de la Slot, which was dated 1275, the Hundred Rolls of Norfolk, during the reign of King Edward 1, "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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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