What's in a Name
Possible Origins of the Name
There are a number of differing theories regarding the origins of the name Scudder or Skudder, there being a numerous alternative spellings occurring in early Parish Registers and Wills such as Scudar, Scoder, Scodder, Scooder, Skoder, Skodder, possibly Scudden and even Scutter, some of these probably being misspellings or misinterpretations of early script. Also suggestions have been made by J. B. Dorrinton in Scudder Family Records regarding the existence of earlier forms such as le Scuder 1331, Scudier 1398 and Scodyere 1450. It is evident from wills and other documents that alternative spellings were used even in the same text, the c spelling appears to have been generally used and the k spelling used for Church Court and Official documents. One of the earliest wills, that of Thomas Skudder of Horton dated 1492, uses the k form, this was translated from the Latin copy in the Rochester Diocesan Records. The alternative c form arises in the transcript from the original crudely written English text of the will of Agnes Scudder of Horton dated 1508 (widow of Henry Skudder of Horton whose Latin will using the k form was dated 1504). The k form also occurs on the 15/16th Century Brass located at the Parish Church of St. Mary, Stansted, Kent and both forms appear on the 18th Century Heraldic Ledger Stone at the Parish Church of St. Mary, Fawkham, Kent.
Some Interpretations
1. The modern name Scudder is believed to derive from the occupation of a scudder or skudder - which is an old term for a person employed in an aspect of the tanning trade. This is someone involved in the treatment of hides, 'skud' being an old English word for the removal of hairs, dirt, etc., from skins with the aid of a small knife. J. B. Dorrinton 'Scudder Family Records' 1972
2. Occupational; probably immigrant from Holland equivalent to English SHOOTER. C. W. Bardsley 'Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames'.
3. (Teut.) formerly (1604) Skutter, is doubtless the Dut. Schutter (Sch almost as Sk) a shooter, a 'marksman', 'archer'. If the original form were really Skudder it would represent the Dutch schudder a 'shaker'. fr. schudden 'to shake'. Harrison 'Surnames of the United Kingdom'.
4. Scudder, Skudder, Scrouther, Shrouder: John le Scoudere 1289 NorwLt; Thomas Skudder 1492, John Scudder 1521 RochW; Thomas Scudder 1660 ArchC 30 cf. Robert Ose of Norwich, scouder 1315 NorwDeeds II. A derivative of OE. scrud 'garments, clothes'. Probably a dealer in second-hand clothing. P. H. Reany & R. M. Wilson 'A Dictionary of English Surnames'. Note; Anglo-Saxon scrud meaning shroud; garment or clothing, but can also be shroud as in sails; tackle of a ship (Icel. skrud).
5. Scutt English: 1. Occupational name for a scout or spy, ME scut (OF escoute, from escoutier to listen, L auscultare). Var; Scudder (with addition of the ME agent suffix) 2. Nickname for a swift runner, from ME scut hare (of uncertain origin).
Patrick Hanks & Flavia Hodges 'A Dictionary of Surnames'
If we turn to the Oxford English Dictionary we find several different meanings for the word 'scud' (also scudde, scudd) perhaps in some uses onomatopoeic:
A. 1a. The action of scudding; hurried movement (ref.; 1609 B. Johnson Case Altered)
2a. Light clouds driven rapidly before the wind or a driving shower of rain or snow (ref.; 1669 Dryden and Davenant Tempest & 1687 A. Lovell Thevenot's Travels)
b. A sudden gust of wind (ref.; 1694 Motteux Rabelais).
c. Ocean foam or spray driven by the wind (ref.; 1884 Howells Silas Lapham)
B.1. Dirt or refuse (ref.; 1641 Best Farm Books)
2. Sooty Coal, Ming Coal (ref.; 1829 Glovers History of Derby).
3. Dirt, lime, fat, and fragments of hair which must be removed from a hide (ref.; 1885 A. Watt Art of Leather Working)
C. A wisp of twisted straw (ref.; 1843 Journal of Royal Agricultural Society).
D. Also scudde, skude, squdde, scudd, skud, scude, scudde:
First recorded in the 16th Century but probably much older in colloquial use. The initial sc shows that the word cannot descend from OE.; if not formed onomatopoeically or by phonetic symbolism, it was presumably adopted either from Scandinavian or from LG. or Du. Formally a possible origin would be MLG., MDu. schudden to shake (:- OS scuddian) whence Sw. skudda, Da. skudde; but the sense seems not sufficiently near. The ON skunda, to hasten, agrees in sense but not in form. It has been usual to refer the word to Da skyde (with a long vowel) to shoot (ON skiota), skud shot (ON skot), but the Danish change of t into d is a late development, and is not represented in English words of Anglo-Danish origin. It may be noted that several dialects have a synonymous scut verb, of which scud may be an altered form. As the earliest instance of scud refers to the movement of a hare, and this has always been a prominent application of the verb, it seems possible that it may be connected with scut, the tail of a hare, sometimes applied to the animal itself.
Oxford English Dictionary.
1. To run or move briskly or hurriedly; to dart nimbly from place to place. (ref.; 1532 More Confut. Tindale Works, etc.).
2. To sail or move swiftly on the water. Now chiefly (and in Technical Nautical use exclusively), to run before a gale with little or no sail (ref.; 1582 Stanyhurst Aeneid, etc.).
3. Of clouds, foam etc. : to be driven by the wind (ref.; Garth Dispens., etc.).
4. To pass, travel or sail quickly over (ref.; 1632 Lithgow Travels).
5a. To throw a flat stone so as to make it skim the water.
b. to shoot or discharge (a load of herring) into the hold of a vessel (ref. 1874 Holdsworth Deep-Sea Fishing).
6. To slap, beat, strike, spank; to beat down (ref.; 1814 W. Nicholson Tales in Verse).
E. To quaff, to drink liberally (ref.; 1728 Ramsay Monk & Miller's W.).
F.1. To clean or scrape with a small spittle (ref.; 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorkshire).
2. To remove remaining hairs, dirt, etc., from skins or hides with a hand knife (ref.; 1880 Times 27 Sept.).
G. To make straw into scuds (ref.; 1803 Young Annals Agriculture).
H.
scudder: One who or that which scuds (recent Dictionaries).
scudding:
A. The action of the verb scud in various senses.
B. Adjective as in scudding-pole, scudding-stone.
scuddle: To run away hastily.
scuddy: Turbid, full of sediment.
Clearly the various 'Authorities' are divided as to the origins and the word scud has many different meanings and spellings. It is interesting to note that in modern Norwegian the word skudder means chaos and confusion, however skudd seems also to be synonymous with skott meaning the stern of a boat, a shot, shoot and also refers to movement. The origins of the name Scudder appear to be exclusively in Kent and it is my opinion that this must have a direct bearing on its development. It has been suggested that the Kentish Dialect had a tendency to change the pronunciation of T's into D's (Dartford was shown as Tarentefort in Domesday), but this may be more due to the fact that the original sound was more of a 'dt'. The Anglo-Saxon Dictionary shows scudan (sc as in sh): to shake , tremble, shiver, shudder as equivalent to OS. skuddian, O.Frs. skedda, O.H.Ger. scuten, scutten. O.L.Ger. scuddinga; illustrating that the c's and k's and d's and t's were to some extent interchangeable.
Thus we may assume that the name could have been formed from Scutt; both Scutt and Scudd are fairly common English names; Scutt being assumed to have developed from Scott as in of Scotland or Scots or also Scout as in spy. Hence also Scotter or Scotten, the latter being a place name in Yorkshire.
We know that the name Skudder has not changed since the will of Thomas Skudder of Horton 1492 and was well spread throughout the north of the county by that time. Some of the dictionary definitions refer to uses of the word which appear not to have been accepted until a considerably later date and if correct could be expected to have been found country wide rather than just in Kent. The tanning references seem to be of too late a date and if correct, surely the name would be as widespread, though perhaps not quite as common, as skinner and tanner. The 1315 reference to Robert Ose of Norwich, scouder (scruder?) would appear to indicate an occupation, and if the interpretation is correct certainly the religious houses received grants for the provision of clothing; Anglo-Saxon scrud-fultum, and land for the same purpose; A-S. scrud-land, and no doubt these would have required an administrator in the larger Dioceses.
I would suggest that the name might have been applied literally as 'a shaker', perhaps to one suffering from Parkinson's disease or as 'a shooter' as in a marksman or may possibly be related to the lookout who stood on the skut-r ( ON ) or skott/skutt of the boat as she scudded across the North Sea in the second Viking wave of the 11th Century, to avenge the St. Brice's Day massacre of all Danes living in the Kingdom ordered by King Ethlelred (“the Unready” correctly the “unred” i.e un-counselled as opposed to Ethelred meaning “noble council”), landing at Erith and proceeding with Sweyn Forkbeard to Swanscombe (said by some to be named from Swains camp but possibly from swines combe) not far from Dartford, then settling in the region during the reign of his son Cnut. Maybe the name was applied to a Dane who had survived the massacre and was living in fear and 'trembling' of his life.
It has been suggested to me that the name could be of Jutish origin; according to Bede the Jutes came from Jutland in Denmark, but some modern scholars believe they were Franks who originated in the middle Rhine area (though the Jutland origin has been given more credence in recent years and the matter is far from settled). They were said to have invaded Kent under Hengist and Horsa around 455 AD, forcing the Britons out of Kent, and shortly thereafter they set up the Royal House of Oiscingus or the Eskings (after Oisc Hengist's son). Another possible origin was from Friesland where in O.FR the “sk” sound was equivalent to the “sc” of the Teutonic languages; the legend being that the Jutes settled lands east of the River Medway and Hengist then invited the Frieslanders over to occupy lands west of the Medway, leading to the distinction of Men of Kent and Kentish Men.
There is an important Jutish burial site at Horton-Kirby (Horton; an enclosure named after a muddy field) near the River Darenth (A Celtic name given to a river that frequently overspills its banks. Note also Hurstbourne-Tarrant, Southampton, mentioned in the will of Rev. Henry Scudder 1651/2, which is situated in the only other mainland region settled by the Jutes, South Hampshire and the Isle of Wight). The Anglo-Saxon word for an alluvial area is scydd, is it therefore possible that the name originated with a Jutish Family who lived on a muddy piece of ground at a place that came to be called Horton. Perhaps the word scud is associated with this, being applied to 'dirt' deposited by the flood which would fit exactly with scuddy, meaning full of sediment.
In his book Kent Place Names, Canon J.W. Horsley late Vicar of Detling, mentions a place in Kent called SCUDDINGTON (the enclosure of the sons of Scudd or Scudda). I was unable to locate this on modern maps, and eventually discovered that this was a spelling sometimes applied to Scuttington; Scuttington Manor is approximately 2 miles east of Sittingbourne. Scuttington translates to Scuna's Sons farmstead, Old English Scuning tun and was recorded as Sconingtune c. 1220, Sconyngton c.1298 and Scouyngton c.1409, changing to Scuttington by 1782. It is possible therefore that the surname Scudder evolved in the same way, the anglo-saxon -er occupational suffix being mistakenly written for the a ending common for Jutish names, thus the true origin could be from the nickname Scuna, given to a man who fought alongside Hengist (Stallion) and Horsa (Little Horse), who settled lands with his family in North West Kent. What is interesting is that there was in use in colonial New England a verb to “scune”, to skip stones across water, which is equivalent to the current verb to “scud”.
© Simon Skudder
Revised February 2003
There are a number of differing theories regarding the origins of the name Scudder or Skudder, there being a numerous alternative spellings occurring in early Parish Registers and Wills such as Scudar, Scoder, Scodder, Scooder, Skoder, Skodder, possibly Scudden and even Scutter, some of these probably being misspellings or misinterpretations of early script. Also suggestions have been made by J. B. Dorrinton in Scudder Family Records regarding the existence of earlier forms such as le Scuder 1331, Scudier 1398 and Scodyere 1450. It is evident from wills and other documents that alternative spellings were used even in the same text, the c spelling appears to have been generally used and the k spelling used for Church Court and Official documents. One of the earliest wills, that of Thomas Skudder of Horton dated 1492, uses the k form, this was translated from the Latin copy in the Rochester Diocesan Records. The alternative c form arises in the transcript from the original crudely written English text of the will of Agnes Scudder of Horton dated 1508 (widow of Henry Skudder of Horton whose Latin will using the k form was dated 1504). The k form also occurs on the 15/16th Century Brass located at the Parish Church of St. Mary, Stansted, Kent and both forms appear on the 18th Century Heraldic Ledger Stone at the Parish Church of St. Mary, Fawkham, Kent.
Some Interpretations
1. The modern name Scudder is believed to derive from the occupation of a scudder or skudder - which is an old term for a person employed in an aspect of the tanning trade. This is someone involved in the treatment of hides, 'skud' being an old English word for the removal of hairs, dirt, etc., from skins with the aid of a small knife. J. B. Dorrinton 'Scudder Family Records' 1972
2. Occupational; probably immigrant from Holland equivalent to English SHOOTER. C. W. Bardsley 'Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames'.
3. (Teut.) formerly (1604) Skutter, is doubtless the Dut. Schutter (Sch almost as Sk) a shooter, a 'marksman', 'archer'. If the original form were really Skudder it would represent the Dutch schudder a 'shaker'. fr. schudden 'to shake'. Harrison 'Surnames of the United Kingdom'.
4. Scudder, Skudder, Scrouther, Shrouder: John le Scoudere 1289 NorwLt; Thomas Skudder 1492, John Scudder 1521 RochW; Thomas Scudder 1660 ArchC 30 cf. Robert Ose of Norwich, scouder 1315 NorwDeeds II. A derivative of OE. scrud 'garments, clothes'. Probably a dealer in second-hand clothing. P. H. Reany & R. M. Wilson 'A Dictionary of English Surnames'. Note; Anglo-Saxon scrud meaning shroud; garment or clothing, but can also be shroud as in sails; tackle of a ship (Icel. skrud).
5. Scutt English: 1. Occupational name for a scout or spy, ME scut (OF escoute, from escoutier to listen, L auscultare). Var; Scudder (with addition of the ME agent suffix) 2. Nickname for a swift runner, from ME scut hare (of uncertain origin).
Patrick Hanks & Flavia Hodges 'A Dictionary of Surnames'
If we turn to the Oxford English Dictionary we find several different meanings for the word 'scud' (also scudde, scudd) perhaps in some uses onomatopoeic:
A. 1a. The action of scudding; hurried movement (ref.; 1609 B. Johnson Case Altered)
2a. Light clouds driven rapidly before the wind or a driving shower of rain or snow (ref.; 1669 Dryden and Davenant Tempest & 1687 A. Lovell Thevenot's Travels)
b. A sudden gust of wind (ref.; 1694 Motteux Rabelais).
c. Ocean foam or spray driven by the wind (ref.; 1884 Howells Silas Lapham)
B.1. Dirt or refuse (ref.; 1641 Best Farm Books)
2. Sooty Coal, Ming Coal (ref.; 1829 Glovers History of Derby).
3. Dirt, lime, fat, and fragments of hair which must be removed from a hide (ref.; 1885 A. Watt Art of Leather Working)
C. A wisp of twisted straw (ref.; 1843 Journal of Royal Agricultural Society).
D. Also scudde, skude, squdde, scudd, skud, scude, scudde:
First recorded in the 16th Century but probably much older in colloquial use. The initial sc shows that the word cannot descend from OE.; if not formed onomatopoeically or by phonetic symbolism, it was presumably adopted either from Scandinavian or from LG. or Du. Formally a possible origin would be MLG., MDu. schudden to shake (:- OS scuddian) whence Sw. skudda, Da. skudde; but the sense seems not sufficiently near. The ON skunda, to hasten, agrees in sense but not in form. It has been usual to refer the word to Da skyde (with a long vowel) to shoot (ON skiota), skud shot (ON skot), but the Danish change of t into d is a late development, and is not represented in English words of Anglo-Danish origin. It may be noted that several dialects have a synonymous scut verb, of which scud may be an altered form. As the earliest instance of scud refers to the movement of a hare, and this has always been a prominent application of the verb, it seems possible that it may be connected with scut, the tail of a hare, sometimes applied to the animal itself.
Oxford English Dictionary.
1. To run or move briskly or hurriedly; to dart nimbly from place to place. (ref.; 1532 More Confut. Tindale Works, etc.).
2. To sail or move swiftly on the water. Now chiefly (and in Technical Nautical use exclusively), to run before a gale with little or no sail (ref.; 1582 Stanyhurst Aeneid, etc.).
3. Of clouds, foam etc. : to be driven by the wind (ref.; Garth Dispens., etc.).
4. To pass, travel or sail quickly over (ref.; 1632 Lithgow Travels).
5a. To throw a flat stone so as to make it skim the water.
b. to shoot or discharge (a load of herring) into the hold of a vessel (ref. 1874 Holdsworth Deep-Sea Fishing).
6. To slap, beat, strike, spank; to beat down (ref.; 1814 W. Nicholson Tales in Verse).
E. To quaff, to drink liberally (ref.; 1728 Ramsay Monk & Miller's W.).
F.1. To clean or scrape with a small spittle (ref.; 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorkshire).
2. To remove remaining hairs, dirt, etc., from skins or hides with a hand knife (ref.; 1880 Times 27 Sept.).
G. To make straw into scuds (ref.; 1803 Young Annals Agriculture).
H.
scudder: One who or that which scuds (recent Dictionaries).
scudding:
A. The action of the verb scud in various senses.
B. Adjective as in scudding-pole, scudding-stone.
scuddle: To run away hastily.
scuddy: Turbid, full of sediment.
Clearly the various 'Authorities' are divided as to the origins and the word scud has many different meanings and spellings. It is interesting to note that in modern Norwegian the word skudder means chaos and confusion, however skudd seems also to be synonymous with skott meaning the stern of a boat, a shot, shoot and also refers to movement. The origins of the name Scudder appear to be exclusively in Kent and it is my opinion that this must have a direct bearing on its development. It has been suggested that the Kentish Dialect had a tendency to change the pronunciation of T's into D's (Dartford was shown as Tarentefort in Domesday), but this may be more due to the fact that the original sound was more of a 'dt'. The Anglo-Saxon Dictionary shows scudan (sc as in sh): to shake , tremble, shiver, shudder as equivalent to OS. skuddian, O.Frs. skedda, O.H.Ger. scuten, scutten. O.L.Ger. scuddinga; illustrating that the c's and k's and d's and t's were to some extent interchangeable.
Thus we may assume that the name could have been formed from Scutt; both Scutt and Scudd are fairly common English names; Scutt being assumed to have developed from Scott as in of Scotland or Scots or also Scout as in spy. Hence also Scotter or Scotten, the latter being a place name in Yorkshire.
We know that the name Skudder has not changed since the will of Thomas Skudder of Horton 1492 and was well spread throughout the north of the county by that time. Some of the dictionary definitions refer to uses of the word which appear not to have been accepted until a considerably later date and if correct could be expected to have been found country wide rather than just in Kent. The tanning references seem to be of too late a date and if correct, surely the name would be as widespread, though perhaps not quite as common, as skinner and tanner. The 1315 reference to Robert Ose of Norwich, scouder (scruder?) would appear to indicate an occupation, and if the interpretation is correct certainly the religious houses received grants for the provision of clothing; Anglo-Saxon scrud-fultum, and land for the same purpose; A-S. scrud-land, and no doubt these would have required an administrator in the larger Dioceses.
I would suggest that the name might have been applied literally as 'a shaker', perhaps to one suffering from Parkinson's disease or as 'a shooter' as in a marksman or may possibly be related to the lookout who stood on the skut-r ( ON ) or skott/skutt of the boat as she scudded across the North Sea in the second Viking wave of the 11th Century, to avenge the St. Brice's Day massacre of all Danes living in the Kingdom ordered by King Ethlelred (“the Unready” correctly the “unred” i.e un-counselled as opposed to Ethelred meaning “noble council”), landing at Erith and proceeding with Sweyn Forkbeard to Swanscombe (said by some to be named from Swains camp but possibly from swines combe) not far from Dartford, then settling in the region during the reign of his son Cnut. Maybe the name was applied to a Dane who had survived the massacre and was living in fear and 'trembling' of his life.
It has been suggested to me that the name could be of Jutish origin; according to Bede the Jutes came from Jutland in Denmark, but some modern scholars believe they were Franks who originated in the middle Rhine area (though the Jutland origin has been given more credence in recent years and the matter is far from settled). They were said to have invaded Kent under Hengist and Horsa around 455 AD, forcing the Britons out of Kent, and shortly thereafter they set up the Royal House of Oiscingus or the Eskings (after Oisc Hengist's son). Another possible origin was from Friesland where in O.FR the “sk” sound was equivalent to the “sc” of the Teutonic languages; the legend being that the Jutes settled lands east of the River Medway and Hengist then invited the Frieslanders over to occupy lands west of the Medway, leading to the distinction of Men of Kent and Kentish Men.
There is an important Jutish burial site at Horton-Kirby (Horton; an enclosure named after a muddy field) near the River Darenth (A Celtic name given to a river that frequently overspills its banks. Note also Hurstbourne-Tarrant, Southampton, mentioned in the will of Rev. Henry Scudder 1651/2, which is situated in the only other mainland region settled by the Jutes, South Hampshire and the Isle of Wight). The Anglo-Saxon word for an alluvial area is scydd, is it therefore possible that the name originated with a Jutish Family who lived on a muddy piece of ground at a place that came to be called Horton. Perhaps the word scud is associated with this, being applied to 'dirt' deposited by the flood which would fit exactly with scuddy, meaning full of sediment.
In his book Kent Place Names, Canon J.W. Horsley late Vicar of Detling, mentions a place in Kent called SCUDDINGTON (the enclosure of the sons of Scudd or Scudda). I was unable to locate this on modern maps, and eventually discovered that this was a spelling sometimes applied to Scuttington; Scuttington Manor is approximately 2 miles east of Sittingbourne. Scuttington translates to Scuna's Sons farmstead, Old English Scuning tun and was recorded as Sconingtune c. 1220, Sconyngton c.1298 and Scouyngton c.1409, changing to Scuttington by 1782. It is possible therefore that the surname Scudder evolved in the same way, the anglo-saxon -er occupational suffix being mistakenly written for the a ending common for Jutish names, thus the true origin could be from the nickname Scuna, given to a man who fought alongside Hengist (Stallion) and Horsa (Little Horse), who settled lands with his family in North West Kent. What is interesting is that there was in use in colonial New England a verb to “scune”, to skip stones across water, which is equivalent to the current verb to “scud”.
© Simon Skudder
Revised February 2003
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No part of or any information contained on this or any page on the Skudders website may be copied or reproduced without the express permission of the Webmaster