This interesting surname can be either a locational name from Soothill in Yorkshire deriving from the Old English pre 7th Century "sot" meaning "soot" plus "hill" hill, or, it may be a nickname for a cunning of clever person deriving from the Old French "sotil" meaning "subtle", "clever" or "cunning". The surname dates back to the early 13th Century, (see below). Further recordings include Adam le Sutel (1275), "The Hundred Rolls of London", and Reginald Sutel (1279) "The Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire". Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Suttill, Sottell, Suttell, etc.. One Joan Suttell married John Peirson at St. Dunstan, Stepney on January 3rd 1577. Elizabeth, daughter of Godfrey and Rebecca Suttle, was christened at St. Olave, Silver Street, London on May 16th 1658, and Anthony Suttell was christened on June 8th 1747 at St. Benet, Paul's Wharf, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Michael de Suthill, which was dated 1207, "The Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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.