Scales Family History
Scales Name Meaning
English:: plural form of Scale naming a herdsman living and working on a summer pasture or a habitational name for someone from a place called Scales mostly minor places in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Scholes is a dialect variant of the same name. (of Norman origin): habitational name either from Écalles-Alix (Seine-Maritime) Écalles (in Estouteville-Écalles Seine-Maritime) or from Escalles (Pas-de-Calais). The earliest spellings of these names suggest a derivation from Latin scala scalae (plural) ‘ladder staircase stile’ perhaps applied to a steep slope or path although Old Norse skáli (‘herdsman's hut shieling’ see Scale ) has also been suggested for Écalles. Challis may be a variant of the same name. The surname has also been established in southern Ireland (Limerick) since the 14th century.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
