This interesting surname of English origin is a patronymic from the old English pre 7th Century personal name Botta or the middle English personal name But(t), both of uncertain origin. The surname dates back to the late 13th Century, (see below). Further recordings include one William Botting (1327), "the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex". Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Botteng, Botten, Botton, Booton, etc.. One Avis Botton married Humfridus Stonge on September 5th 1557 at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster. Thomas Botton married Elizabeth Smyth on May 2nd 1591 at Clerkenwell, London and one Elizabeth Botting married Joseph Denington on August 20th 1767 at St. Marylebone, St. Mary Street, Marylebone Road, London. William, son of Henry and Mary Botting, was christened in Lying in Hospital, Endell street, London on December 3rd 1772. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Bottyng, witness, which was dated 1277, "The Assize Rolls of Somerset", during the reign of King Edward 1, "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.