SHUTTLEWORTH
The surname Shuttleworth is of English origin, originating within the British Isles and specifically in England. The name derives from the Old English terms scytel, meaning “shuttle”, and worth, meaning an enclosure or farm. It is therefore an occupational surname that would have been ascribed to a person who lived or worked at a farm where shuttles – the essential tools used in weaving – were manufactured or employed. The name reflects a historical connection to the textile industry and the craft of weaving.
Shuttleworth is also a locational name. The place-name originates in various locations across Lancashire, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire, each being derived from the pre‑7th‑century Old English word scyttel(s) and the element worth. This combination suggests an enclosure made of bars of a particular type, or a fortified settlement. The surname was originally used to identify the lord of a manor or an individual who migrated from one place of origin to another. Documentary evidence shows that the first recorded instances of the name appear in the mid‑13th century.
In the 1227 Feet of Fines for Lancashire the name is recorded as “Suttelsworth”, and in the 1246 Assize Court Rolls of the same county it appears as “Shitleswurth”. A notable early bearer of the surname was Henry de Shuttleworth, who in 1329 was recorded as having died seised of Shuttleworth Hall and eight oxgangs in the parish of Whalley, Lancashire. His son Ughtred, who lived at Gawthorpe near Burnley, lapsed the family’s tradition of using the given name, a practice that survives in the family name to the present day. Later documentation includes a reference to Thomas Schytylworth in the Corpus Christi Guild Records of Yorkshire dated 1477.
The heraldic arms associated with the Shuttleworth family are a silver shield charged with three black weavers’ shuttles tipped and furnished with quills of yarn, from which gold threads hang as pendants. The crest features a cubit arm in armour proper, the gauntleted hand holding a shuttle that echoes the arms. The earliest extant spelling of the family name is that of Henry de Schutlesworth observed in the 1246 Assize Court Rolls of Lancashire during the reign of King Henry the Fifth.
Typical given names associated with the Shuttleworth surname
Male
- Andrew
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- William
Female
- Ann
- Barbara
- Catherine
- Claire
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Jean
- Margaret
- Mary
- Rebecca
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Shuttleworth in...
Braille
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There are approximately 5,063 people named Shuttleworth in the UK. That makes it roughly the 1,862nd most common surname in Britain. Around 78 in a million people in Britain are named Shuttleworth.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Shuttleworth
- Mark Shuttleworth - South African entrepreneur; second self-funded visitor to the International Space Station
- Ken Shuttleworth - Cricket player of England.
- Timothy Shuttleworth - Swimmer
- Anna Shuttleworth - Musician
- A. R. B. Shuttleworth - Indian Army officer (1873 to 1935)
- Barry Shuttleworth - Football player
- Guy Shuttleworth -
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.