Platts - Name

This interesting name has two possible origins. The first and most likely being a topographic name for someone who lived on a flat piece of land deriving from the Olde French "plat" meaning "a flat surface". The surname is first recorded in the early half of the 13th century, (see below). One, Geoffrey de (of) Platte appears in the 1285 "Assize Court Rolls of Lancashire" and a Henry Atte Platte in the 1327 "Subsidy Rolls of Staffordshire". In the 1379 "Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire" a Johannes de Plattes is recorded and a Robert Plattes appears in the 1590 "Register of the Freeman of the city of York". It was a usual Medieval practice to add a final - (e)s to monosyllabic (locational) surnames. The name may also derive from the Olde English "plaett" or the Medieval English "plat" meaning "a plank bridge", and given to one dwelling by a foot bridge. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John de la (of the) Platte, which was dated 1242 - The Pipe Rolls of Worcestershire, during the reign of Henry III, The Frenchman 1216-1272. 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.