This is a habitational name of Olde English pre 7th Century and possibly Viking settlement origins. The name derives from "Rothe" or "Rhothr" meaning a spring or swampy ground, plus "tun", a farm, dwelling house, or occasionally a small village or hamlet. "Rothin" describes one who dwelt at such a place or who originated from one of the villages called Rotten, Rotton, Wroughton or Roughton, or possibly from one of the seven thousand or so "lost" medieval villages that were cleared by plague, war or agriculture in the 16th to 18th Centuries. Although quite rare, the name has been well recorded since the 17th Century, and these recordings include the following examples: Robart Rothen, a christening witness at the church of Ockbrook, Derbyshire, on July 15th 1711, whilst Ann Medelaina Rothon married John Hambrock at the church of St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster, London, on October 11th 1761, in the reign of George 111. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ambrose Rotton, which was dated 1581, a witness at Aston Juxta, Birmingham, Warwickshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.

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