Scott
Originally a name for a Scotsman, Scott became one of the best-known surnames in Britain and beyond.
The #36 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 702 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Scott is an ethnic or regional surname that originally meant a Scot or, in earlier medieval usage, an Irish Gaelic person. In Old English the plural form "Scottas" referred to the people known in Roman and early medieval sources as "Scotti". The name was long explained by writers such as Isidore of Seville as referring to a distinctive body-marking or tattooing practice, though that deeper origin is uncertain and belongs to early ethnological speculation rather than secure proof.
History
Medieval records often spell the name as "le Scot," showing that it began as a label for someone identified as Scottish. Because movement between Scotland and England was frequent, the surname became common in England as well as Scotland. It later spread widely across the English-speaking world and is now one of the most familiar British-origin surnames.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Harrison noted that the surname was already among the most common in parts of Scotland in the early 20th century, and modern census data still show it as a major surname in the English-speaking world.
From the historical record
“SCOTSON, (the) Scot's Son : v. under Scott. SCOTT (A.-Celt.) orig. Irishman; later Scotchman [O.E. Scottas (pi.), Irish ; later Scotch ; Lat. Scott (first appearing in the 4th cent, in Amm. Marcellinus,'who fought in Gaul). The etymology has, of course, been much discussed ; but it is al- most certain that Isidore…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)