What is the origin of the surname Devil? or Skelton?

Question

And why on earth did they get that name?

Answer 1

Skelton:

Northern English: habitational name from places in Cumbria and Yorkshire, originally named with the same elements as Shelton, but with a later change of ‘s’ to ‘sk’ under Scandinavian influence. The surname has also been established in Ireland for four or five centuries.

Some early immigrants with the Devil surname were born in Germany.

Answer 2

I found this for you,

Surname: Devil

Recorded in many forms including de Ville, de Villier, Darvel, Darvill, Darvell, Devil, Ville, Desvilles, and others, this is a famous French surname. It is habitational, and describes one who lived in the centre of a village, as opposed to the outskirts, or it is locational from any of the various places called Ville or Villier, or Villiers, found throughout the country. It was one of the most important surnames introduced into England at the time of the Norman Conquest of 1066, and at least four separate branches of the English nobility called Villiers trace their ancestry back to these invaders. These include the earls of Anglesey, Jersey, Clarendon and Grandison, and the sometimes infamous dukes of Buckingham. The name in England often underwent transposition to try to lose some of the obvious Frenchness, and this included the "fusion" of the preposition "de" between the 15th and 19th centuries when the two countries were often at war. Early examples of the surname recording include: Willam de Villers of Cheshire in the year 1130, and William de Villiers, given a being a Knight Templar in the rolls Yorkshire in 1185. Other later recordings from the surviving registers of the diocese of Greater London include: Elizabeth Darvil who married Richard Chadwick at West Drayton, on August 7th 1596, and Elizabeth Darvell, who married George Ball at St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on January 15th 1820. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Surname: Skelton

This interesting surname is a Northern English locational surname, recorded in the spellings of Skelton and Skilton. It is derived from the names of villages situated in Cumberland and Yorkshire. The village and subsequent surname translates from the pre 7th Century Old English "scylf" meaning a shelf or dry area of land probably originally surrounded by water meadows or fens, and "tun", an enclosure or settlement. The village names are first recorded in the 11th century when "Scilton" occurs in the 1086 Domesday Book for Yorkshire Later the rolls known as the "Yorkshire charters" of 1160 give the place name as "Sheltone", not far from its modern form. As a surname "Skelton" had emerged by the middle of the 12th Century (see below). Other early recordings include Willelmus de Skelton in the Poll Tax rolls of Yorkshire in 1379, whilst John Skelton is recorded in the rolls known as the "Feet of fines" for the county of Essex in 1410. The surname has produced a number of prominent nameholders. These include John Skelton (1460 - 1529), poet and naturalist of Norfolk, and Sir John Skelton (1831 - 1897), who wrote under the pseudonym of "Shirley". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hamo de Skelton, which was dated 1160, in the Early Yorkshire Charter Lists, during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. 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.

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