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The roots of the ancient Scottish name Suits are found among the people of a tribe known as the Picts. Suits is a name for a cobbler. The name is derived from the Old English word soutere, which in turn comes from the Old Norse word sutare, which means shoemaker or cobbler. 1 2
We include this excerpt from a 16th century play:
"Of that surname I neid nocht be aschomit
For I con mak schone, butekins and buittis:
Gif me the coppie of the king's cuittis,
And ye sail se, richt sune, quhat I can do."
Sir David Lindsay, Ane Satyre of the Thrie Esteaites, June 1552.
Roughly translated into more modern English:
"Of that surname I need not be ashamed, for I can make schone, butekins, and buittis" (boots) "give me a copy of the king's cuittis and ye shall see, right soon, what I can do."
The surname Suits was first found in Angus (Gaelic: Aonghas), part of the Tayside region of northeastern Scotland, and present day Council Area of Angus, formerly known as Forfar or Forfarshire.
The first on record was Roger Sutor who held land in Dumfries, a. 1214, and later, Kolin, son of Anegus the Souter, was present at the pleas held at Dull in Angus in 1264. Bernard called Sutor had a charter of a house in the tenement of Drumelzier, c. 1300-1320. Fynlai sutor was prepositus of Stirling, 1327, and in 1330 Symon sutor was prepositus of the burgh of Culan. 3
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Suits research. Another 369 words (26 lines of text) covering the years 1110, 1327, 1375, 1402, 1422, 1438, 1457, 1460, 1464, 1511, 1527, 1586, 1633, 1660 and 1663 are included under the topic Early Suits History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
The appearance of the printing press and the first dictionaries in the last few hundred years did much to standardize spelling. Prior to that time scribes spelled according to sound, a practice that resulted in many spelling variations. Suits has been spelled Souter, Suter, Sutar, Souttar, Soutar, Sutter, Shuter and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Suits Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In the United States, the name Suits is the 15,981st most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 5
The expense of the crossing to the North American colonies seemed small beside the difficulties of remaining in Scotland. It was a long and hard trip, but at its end lay the reward of freedom. Some Scots remained faithful to England and called themselves United Empire Loyalists, while others fought in the American War of Independence. Much of this lost Scottish heritage has been recovered in the last century through Clan societies and other patriotic Scottish organizations. A search of immigration and passenger lists revealed many important, early immigrants to North America bearing the name of Suits: