This interesting surname derives either from the Old Norse byname "Strutr" meaning "a cone-like ornament on a headdress or cap", or, it may be a nickname for an argumentative person deriving from the Middle English "Strut(t)" (Germanic "Strauss") meaning "quarrel" or complaint". This surname dates back to the early 13th Century (see below). Further recordings include John le Strut (1273) the Subsidy Rolls of Wiltshire, and Robert Strut (1273) the Subsidy Rolls of Cambridgeshire. Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Strute, and Strut. One Richard Strute married Agnes Cox on April 29th 1581, at St. Dunstan, Stepney. William Strutt married Susanna Parnell on January 6th 1652, at St. Dunstan, Stepney. One Edward Strutt (1801 - 1880), the first Baron Belper, obtained an M.A. at Trinity College, Cambridgeshire; he became chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster in Lord Aberdeen's government. He became president of University College, London, and he was an authority on free trade, law reform and education. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Simon Strut, which was dated 1216, in the "Close Rolls", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "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.