Scone

This most interesting and unusual surname may derive from two distinct possible origins. Firstly, the name may be of Scottish locational origin from "Scone", a parish and village in Pertshire, which probably derived from the Old English word "scene", meaning bright, beautiful. This place was the capital of the kingdom of the Picts and was for a long time a place where Scottish Kings were crowned. Malcolm 111 was crowned here in 1057 after slaying Macbeth. Alternatively, though less likely, the name may be an Anglicized variant of the German name "Schon", which originated as a nickname for a handsome or pleasant man from the Germanic word "schon", fine, beautiful, bright, refined, friendly. The surname is first recorded in Scotland in the mid 13th Century, (see below). One Symone de Scone appears as Abbot of Inchaffray in 1365 in the Charters, Bulls etc., relating to the Abbey of Inchaffray. Jonne de Scone was one of the masons who built St. Giles parish church, Edinburgh in 1387. Elizabeth Scones married Richard Ireland on July 12th, 1562 at St. Lawrence, Poutney, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ysaac de Scone, a witness in Drumkarauch, which was dated 1260, "Liber Cartarum Prioratus Sancti Andree in Scotia", during the reign of King Alexander 111, known as "Ruler of Scotland", 1249 - 1286. 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.