Surname Cloth - Meaning and Origin

Cloth: What does the surname Cloth mean?

The last name Cloth is of Germanic origin. It is thought to derive from Middle Low German Klodde, meaning a "lock of wool cloth," suggesting a clothmaker or wool merchant as an occupational surname. The surname Cloth is also prominent in Jewish communities throughout the world.

In Germany, the surname Cloth is mostly found among Jews living in the Lower Rhineland, an area of Germany inhabited by Jews since the 9th century. The surname is variously spelled as Kloet, Klodt, Kloetgen, Klödt or Clodt.

In the United States, the surname Cloth is mainly concentrated in the Philadelphia area, where German-speaking Jews settled in the mid 1800s. Cloth is also found in the Midwest, mainly in Michigan and Ohio, which were popular destinations for Jewish immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The surname Cloth is still in use in Germany, the United States, and other countries around the world today. The name is a reminder of the occupational origins of a group of people who were once far-flung, connected by a common profession and a shared history.

Cloth: Where does the name Cloth come from?

The last name Cloth can be found in a variety of places around the world today. In Europe, many individuals bearing the name Cloth have ancestors who descended from Germany. Cloth is also a popular name in the United States. It is estimated that there are over 5,000 individuals with this surname living in the country today.

In addition to Europe and America, those who hold the last name Cloth can also be found in Canada, Australia, and other countries around the world. This is likely due to the fact that many European immigrants who traveled to new countries chose to take their last name with them.

The Cloth surname can also be found in countries with large Jewish populations, as the name is of German-Jewish origin. In the Jewish tradition, surnames are often passed down from either the maternal or paternal side. As such, many of those who share the last name Cloth today can trace their roots back to Germany.

Cloth is also seen in many other countries around the globe, but it is not widespread in any one nation. As a result, some Cloths may have difficulty tracking down their family history because there are no large concentrations of individuals who share the same last name.

Regardless, the name Cloth can be found in various places around the world. This is a testament to the ever-changing and diverse history of immigration and travel that has shaped the cultures, both past and present, of so many nations.

Variations of the surname Cloth

The surname Cloth is a variation of the English and Scottish surname Clough, which has several other spellings and variants. Clow, Clowe, and Clue are all common misspellings of Clough. Cloth has also been spelled Hows, Crowd, Houch, and Hootch.

The spelling of the surname Cloth is likely derived from the Old English words cloh, clohh, and clo, meaning “clay,” “mud,” and “clod,” respectively. Thus, Cloth is associated with the occupations of potter, mason, and knapper, people who made and worked with clay and other materials.

The original spelling “Clough” is found most in Northern England and southern Scotland, while the variant spellings are spread across other parts of the British Isles. Clothe is also an inhabitant name found as far back as 1203 in Northumberland, England.

The Clothes are a sept (group of families) belonging to the ancient Irish O'Neill clan. They settled in Ulster in 1180 A.D. In Scotland, the name is said to have derived from the name Claude and the Offord family of Warwickshire, England.

In the United States, Cloths and Clothes are found in records that date back to the 18th and 19th centuries from Pennsylvania to Virginia. In 1685, George Cloth of Westmoreland County, Virginia appeared in records as a planter. Today Cloth is an uncommon surname found mainly in the northeast United States.

Famous people with the name Cloth

• Conrad Cloth: Actor in The Muppet Show
• Gerhard Cloth: German Baroque composer
• Edwin Cloth:was a founding member of the Iroquois Band of North America
• Mary Cloth: American civil rights activist and founder of the NAACP in Jacksonville, Florida
• Nathalie Cloth: French fashion model and actress
• Klaus Cloth: Swiss Olympic sprinter
• Heather Cloth: MTV VJ and host of TRL Italy
• Jörg Cloth: German television personality and actor
• Niklaus Cloth: Swiss professional ice hockey player
• Harry Cloth: Canadian film director and screenwriter

Other surnames

ClothmannClott