Nuttall

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A family name of English origin, carried by various people, including a nineteenth-century American naturalist who studied plants
2. An English surname shared by several notable individuals, among them a famous plant collector of the early 1800s
3. A hereditary family name of English origin, held by many people, such as a well-known botanist who explored the Americas

Etymology: Long before it named anyone's family, the name was a description of a landscape: Old English "hnutu" meant "nut", and "healh" meant "nook" or "corner". Put together, they describe a corner of ground where nut trees grew. This is the origin of the surname, which is a place-name surname: people took their names from the places where they lived, and this one came from a spot marked by hazel or similar nut-bearing trees. The name has stayed in English as a family name, and it is best known today as the surname of a naturalist.