This is the web site for the One Name Study of the Shout family conducted under the auspices of the Guild of One Name Studies. Initially the study is focussed in the UK but with plans to expand globally (whatever that may mean!)
The Origin of the Name
“The Internet Surname Database” described the Shout name as follows -“This interesting and unusual name recorded in church registers of Wiltshire and Devonshire from the mid 16th Century under the variant spellings Showt(e), Shute, Shoutt and Shoute, is of locational origin from any of the places in these counties named with the Old English pre 7th Century “sciete”, a variant of “sceat” meaning projection, for example, Shute in Devonshire, recorded as Schieta circa 1200 and Sheat in Wiltshire appearing as La Schete in the 1287 Fine Court Rolls of that county. On January 29th 1548 William Shute appears in the Marriage Register of Shobrooke, Devon infant christened in Kenn, Devon. The variant spellings Showte and Shoute were recorded in Exminster and Parkham in 1572 and 1574 respectively. On April 7th 1589 Christiane Shute and Martine Wymple were married in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, and on February 17th 1655 Walter Shout was christened in St Mary’s Tedburn Devonshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Elizabeth Showt (christening) which was dated February 6th 1540 at Trowbridge, Wiltshire.
My research is currently limited to Shout /Shoute but based on the above paragraph I fear I may have to expand my horizons in due course!
The earliest church records I have found on Family Search originate in Devon and Cornwall, but they seem to die out fairly quickly and the family name then appears in Yorkshire, before spreading into County Durham, Lincolnshire, London and other parts of England before expanding to other parts of the world.
Whether these family groups can all be traced back to a single source or location is still to be determined. Until that can be proven or disproven I will just carry on adding as much detail to the trees as I can.
Records reproduced on this site are the copyright of the organisations from whom the data was received. Where no copyright otherwise exists then it is claimed by me for any compilation thereof and data/text/pictures etc should not be used without express permission.
Readers of this site are encouraged to get in touch to add further details or to correct misconceptions, or just to spur me on! You can do this by going to the Contact Us page
Many of the pages are works in progress with additional details being included as time permits!
I hope you enjoy and find it useful
Alan F Shout