The
surname
In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community.
Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...
Scales has more than one possible origin.
In some cases, the surname may originate from a name for someone who lived near huts or sheds. In such cases, the surname is derived from the
Middle English ''scale'', ''schole'', ''scole'', meaning "(temporary) hut, shed, shieling" (from
Old Scandinavian ''skáli''). The surname may also originate from a specific place name of the same meaning, such as
Scole
Scole () is a village on the Norfolk– Suffolk border in England. It is 19 miles south of Norwich and lay on the old Roman road to Venta Icenorum, which was the main road until it was bypassed with a dual carriageway. It covers an area of and h ...
(
Norfolk), or from various other places called Scales or Scholes, mainly in northern
England. The surname first appeared on record in
Ireland, in
Limerick, in the fourteenth century. The surname can be rendered in
Irish as ''de Scéalas''.
In other cases, the surname ''Scales'' originates from a place name in
France. In such cases, it is derived from
Écalles-Alix in
Seine-Maritime, or from
Escalles
Escalles () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
A small village located west of Calais, at the junction of the D243 and D940 roads and at the foot of Mont d'Hubert ().
Population
Pla ...
in
Pas-de-Calais
Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...
.
[ Hanks; Coates; McClure (2016) p. 2347; Reaney; Wilson (1995) p. 394.]
People with the surname
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Baron Scales, a title in the Peerage of England, including a list of people named de Scales
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Alfred Moore Scales (1827–1892), Governor of North Carolina and Confederate Army general during the American Civil War
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Derek Percival Scales (born 1921), Australian literary scholar
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Dwight Scales (born 1953), former National Football League wide receiver
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George Scales (1900–1976), American baseball player and manager in the Negro leagues
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Harvey Scales (1940–2019), American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and producer
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Helen Scales
Helen Scales is a British marine biologist, broadcaster, and writer.
Personal life and education
Helen Scales learnt to scuba dive when she was 16 as part of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and from this experience wanted to know more about lif ...
, British marine biologist
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John Scales
John Robert Scales (born 4 July 1966) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central defender from 1984 to 2001.
He notably played in the Premier League for Wimbledon, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Ipswich Town as well ...
(born 1966), English former footballer
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John N. Scales (born 1933 or 1934), American former Pennsylvania state senator
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Junius Scales
Junius Scales (March 26, 1920 – August 5, 2002) was an American leader of the Communist Party of the United States of America notable for his arrest and conviction under the Smith Act in the 1950s. He was arrested in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1954 ...
(1920–2002), a leader of the Communist Party of the United States of America
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Patrick Scales (American football) (born 1988), American football player
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Prunella Scales (born 1932), English actor best known for the television series ''
Fawlty Towers''
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Robert H. Scales (born 1944), retired US Army major general
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Sally Scales
Sally Scales (born 1989) is an Australian activist and artist. She is an ethnic Pitjantjatjara from Pipalyatjara, South Australia in the northwestern part of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands (APY).
Early life
Scales is the daughter ...
, South Australian artist, coordinator at the
APY Art Centre Collective
Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, also known as APY, APY Lands or ''the Lands'', is a large, sparsely-populated local government area (LGA) for Aboriginal people, located in the remote north west of South Australia. Some of the aṉangu ...
in Adelaide
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Tegray Scales
Tegray Rene Scales (born May 10, 1996) is an American football outside linebacker for the Orlando Guardians of the XFL. He played college football at Indiana.
Early years and high school career
Scales attended Colerain High School in Cincin ...
(born 1996), American football player
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Thomas Scales
Thomas Scales (1786–1860) was a leading British abolitionist. He was the first minister of Queen Street Chapel in Leeds and he founded the Silcoates School.
Life
Scales was born in Leeds in Yorkshire, in December 1786. His father was an innke ...
(1786–1860), British abolitionist
Citations
References
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{{surname, Scales