This interesting surname is of English locational origin from a place thus called in Norfolk, recorded as "Botuna" in the Domesday Book of 1086 and later as "Boton" and "Boiton" in the 1203 Curia Regis Rolls. The placename derives from the Old Danish personal name "Bota" or "Bo" plus the old English pre 7th Century "tun" meaning a homestead or village; hence "Bo(ta)'s homestead. The surname is first recorded in the mid 16th Century (see below). In the modern idiom, the surname has many variant spellings including Botton, Botten, Booten, Botting, Boting, etc.. Recordings of the surname from the London church registers include; Ralph son of Richard Botton, who was christened on November 10th 1588 at St. Mary Somerset; the marriage of Thomas Botton and Elizabeth Smith took place on May 2nd 1591 at St. James, Clerkenwell; Thomas, son of Francis and Susannah Booton, was christened in May 1701, at St. Botolph without Aldgate; and on October 17th 1781, the marriage of Thomas Booton and Mary Humphries took place at St. Mary's, St. Marylebone Rd.. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Avis Botton, (marriage to Humfridus Stonge), which was dated September 5th 1557, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, during the reign of Queen Mary, "Bloody Mary", 1553 - 1558. 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.