Recorded as Cutten, Cuttin, Cutton, Cutting and the patronymic Cuttings, this interesting and unusual surname is English. It is an early medieval nickname being a short form of the popular given name Cudbeort, later Cuthbert, and meaning famous-bright! To Cuth or Cutt was added the diminutive suffix of -in or - ing, broadly meaning little, to give son of Cuth/Cutt or Little Cutt. It is said that the personal name developed its popularity because of St Cudbeort, a 7th Century saint, who was firstly bishop of Hexham, and later of bishop of Lindisfarne. He created such a christian cult around him that the name remained very popular as a personal name, (as well as being a surname with some forty spellings), as late as the 20th century in Northern England, and parts of Scotland. Examples of early recordings include John Cutting, master of the ship Francis which sailed from Ipswich, Suffolk, on April 30th 1634, to Virigina colony, New England, whilst in 1641 a John Cuttin and his wife Lidia were christening witnesses at the church of St Mary Whitechapel in the city of London, on March 11th of that year. The coat of arms associated with this surname has the blazon of a silver field charged with a fretty of eight, all red, on a blue chief, an escalop in gold. The first recording of the family name is shown to be that of William Cutting. This was dated 1221, in the pipe rolls of the county of Norfolk, during the reign of King Henry IIIrd of England, 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.