Recorded in the spellings of Groute, Grut, and Grute, this unusual and interesting name is English. It has at least two possible origins the first being that it was a medieval occupational name for one who dealt in "groats", which was coarse meal, and a common, if not exactly popular, staple diet, which in some parts of Britain survived well into the 19th century. The derivation is from the Old Norse "grautr", or the Old English pre 7th Century "grut", meaning "porridge". The second source for the name is from "Grut", an early nickname for a person who was considered by his neighbours to be a bit of a rough diamond! Early examples of the recordings include Geoffrey Grut of Lincoln in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, whilst Walter Groute appears in the 1447 tax charters known as the "Feet of Fines", for the county of Essex. Later church recordings from surviving registers include: Kateryn Growte who was christened on the 30th September 1550, at St. Martins church, Ludgate, city of London, and the marriage of Joane Grout to William Bryan on the 20th May 1654, is entered in the parish records of Spalding, Lincolnshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Geoffrey Grut. This was dated 1199, in the Lincolnshire Pipe Rolls. during the reign of King Richard 1st of England He was known as "The Lionheart", and reigned 1189 - 1199. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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