This unusual name is of English locational origin from a place thus called in Lincolnshire, recorded as Suerfelt in the Domesday Book of 1086 and as Surfliet in the 1167 Pipe Rolls of that county. The name derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century "sur" meaning 'sour", plus "fleot", a stream, hence "the sour stream". The surname from this source is first recorded in the latter half of the 13th Century, (see below). It is particularly well recorded in Lincolnshire Church Registers from the late 16th Century. On May 31st 1580, William Surfleet, an infant, was christened at Horncastle and on May 25th 1679, William Surfleet and Sarah Appleby were married in Thoresway. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of (Persona) de Surflet. which was dated 1273, The Hundred Rolls of Lincolnshire. during the reign of King Edwrad I, The Hammer of the Scots, 1272 - 1307. 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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