Genealogy

A Survey of Scovilles

Those interested in Scoville genealogy should begin by reading A Survey of the Scovils or Scovills in England and America: Seven Hundred Years of History and Genealogy by Homer Worthington Brainard. Luckily this book is available online in more than one location, and it is no longer necessary to buy an expensive copy of this book!

Origin

The only conclusive answer to the question, “Where does the name Scoville come from?” is from England, where the first recording spelling of the name, de Scoville, is found in 1194, born by Ralph de Scoville with whom modern Scoville’s in all of our variant spellings can find a definite, if incomplete, link. The French preposition de means of or from and denotes a toponymic surname, in that the original bearer was associated with a place. French ville means “city” or “town”, so we can surmise the existance of a location named Scoville in a French speaking area of continental Europe, as most place names in England had already been established before the Norman conquest.

While traveling from Strasbourg to Paris in September of 2002, my wife and I decided to take a Schoville shortcut to Escoville, theorized source of the name Scoville. After seven hours on the expensive tollways of France, we exited near Troarn and saw the first signs for Escoville. It sent a chill down my spine, a feeling that was repeated as we came over the hill and saw our first glimpse of the village.