This interesting surname of English origin with variant spellings Clout, Cloutt, Clowte, Clouthe, etc. is either a metonymic occupational name for a repairer of clothes, shoes, or household utensils, or a nickname for a wearer of much-mended clothes, both deriving from the Middle English, Old English pre 7th Century "clut" meaning "patch". The surname dates back to the late 12th Century, (see below). Further recordings include one Walter Clut (1207), "The Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire". Church recordings include one Margery Clowte who married Godfrey Cooke on August 10th 1550, at St. Peter's, Westcheap, London, Alexander Clouth, christened on September 20th 1589, at St. Mary Magdalene's, Old Fish St., London, and William, son of Adam and Margarett Clout, christened on January 11th 1701, at St. Anne's Soho, Westminster. Ann, daughter of Thomas and Susannah Clout was christened at St. Sepulchre, London, on August 4th 1751. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Enial Clut, which was dated 1175, in the "Pipe Rolls of Herefordshire", during the reign of Kin Henry 11, know as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. 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.