Recorded in various spellings including Tulloch, Tullo, Tullack, Tulleth, Tulloh, Tollock, and possibly others, this very interesting surname is generally of Medieval Scottish origin. It is residential, and describes someone from "The lands of Tulloch", near the town of Dingwall, on the Firth of Cromarty, in the county of Sutherland. For some namehlders it can also be topgraphical, the derivation being from the pre 7th century Olde English and Gaelic word 'tulach' meaning a hillock, and hence somebody who lived by such a natural feature. Wherever the origin, the surname is ancient, and the following examples illustrate the development in the spelling over the seven centuries since its creation. These include: Walter de Tulache of Forfar in 1376, Wat of Tulloch, recorded in Woodwrae in 1388, David de Tolauch of Carnconame in 1409, David Tullow in 1506 and David Tullo who may well have been the same person, in Hylcarny in 1520. The surname is also and rather surprisingly quite well recorded in surviving church registers of Greater London. This suggests that it is possible that some nameholders may originate from a now 'lost' medieval village probably in England, although this is not proven. Amongst these recordings are the marriage of Catherine Tullo and William Pritchard on June 12th 1757, at St. James Westminster, and Elisabeth Tulloch and William Boot, on 16th August 1789 at St. Leonards church, Shoreditch. The first recorded spelling of the family name is believed to be that of Nicholas de Tolach, at Brechin in Scotland in 1364. This was during the reign of King David II of Scotland, 1329 - 1371. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop", often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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