This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Cnut' (Canute), found in the 13th century as Note. The diminutive Nutkins and the patronymic Notson clearly establish the fontal origin of this little batch of surnames. There are two Cnuts in Domesday, one in Yorkshire, the other in Derbyshire; compare Knutsford, a village in Cheshire.

Note Attehel (at the hill), Cambridgeshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Alice Note, Oxfordshire, ibid.

John Note, Suffolk, ibid.

John Noteson, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

Johannes Nottson, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Magota Nutte, 1379: ibid.

1581. George Nutt, Kent: Register of the University of Oxford.

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'nott-headed,' with the hair cropped close.

Alicia le Notte, Cambridgeshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Hugh le Notte, Buckinghamshire, ibid.

Robert le Notte, Northamptonshire, Henry III-Edward I: Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I.

Henry le Notte, Leicestershire, ibid.

Willelmus Notte, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

1580. James Nott, Gloucestershire: Register of the University of Oxford.

1751. Married — Peter Nott and Elizabeth Mandeville: St. George's Chapel, Mayfair.

(English) 1 Bald; Close-Cropped [Middle English not, nott(e, Old English hnot] The Anglo-Saxon pers. name Hnotta occurs.

Hugh le Notte.—Hundred Rolls A not heed [head] hadde he, with a broun visage.—Chaucer, Prol. Cant. Tales, 109.

. . . your nott headed country gentleman.—Old Plays, VI. 150; T. Wright.

2 for Knott1, q.v.

3 the (rare) Anglo-Saxon pers. name Cnotta [Old English cnotta, m., knot], corresp. to the Old Norse Knút-r [Old Norse knút-r, m., knot]; also (more often) an Anglicized form (10th and 11th cent. Cnut, whence mod. Canute) of the Scandinavian name: v. Knot(t2 and Nutt.

Probably Knut, the Danish personal name, which we now improperly write in two syllables-Canute. See Knott.

Hnott, Saxon, smooth, round, a nut. Notted, an old word for shorn, polled. The name may have come from wearing the hair short and smooth.

"A nett hed had he, with a brown visage."—Chaucer.

The following, it is said, was penned by the first wife of the Rev. Dr. Nott, on his asking her hand in marriage:

"Why urge, dear sir, a bashful maid,

To change her single lot,

When well you know, I've often said

In truth, I love you, Nott.

For all your pain I do, Nott, care,

And trust me on my life,

Though you had thousands,—I declare,

I would, Nott, be your wife."

From the French, Notte; a personal name Richard Not in Rotuli de Oblatis et Finibus, King John

The Notts have been established as gentry and substantial yeomen in Swimbridge for more than 300 years (Kelly's "Devonshire Directory").