This is an Olde English locational name from the pre 10th century originally northern and meaning 'one who lives by the marsh' and sometimes pre fixed as in Austrother, Langstroth etc. Chaucer remarks: 'Of what toun were they born, that Strother, far in the north, I cannot tellen where?'- from The Canterbury Tales. The modern spellings include: Strother, Struther and Strover, the latter being a West Country variant exchanging 'th' for 'v'. In 1360 William Strother was Lord Mayor of Newcastle and in 1370 Alan del Struther was Bailiff of Tindall, Northumberland. The plural spelling when it occurs, implying 'son of Strother'. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry del Strother which was dated Circa 1220, in the Pipe Rolls of Northumberland during the reign of King Henry 111, known as the Frenchman 1216-1272 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.