Foote
A surname usually meaning someone who lived near the foot of a hill or slope, or more generally near a lower end or base.
The #2,219 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 18,797 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This name is generally explained as a topographic surname from Middle English foot, meaning the bottom or base of something, especially the foot of a hill. In older records it can also appear simply as Foote or Foot, with the same sense of someone living 'at the foot' of a feature in the landscape. Some early writers also treated it as a hereditary surname of considerable antiquity in England.
History
The surname is well attested in medieval English records, including forms like Johannes Fote in the 14th century. It spread through England and later to North America, where both Foot and Foote remain in use. Bardsley and Lower both describe it as a local or topographic name rather than an occupational one.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname writers sometimes compared it to other topographic names built from body-part words, like Head.
From the historical record
“Mr. Ryder performs all his journeys on foot, Mr. Foote all his journeys on horseback. Mr. Penny, whose father was rolling in wealth, Kick'd down all his fortune his dad won, Large Mr. Le Fever's the picture of health,”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)