Family name origins & meanings
- English : habitational name from Skirwith in Cumbria, formerly pronounced Skerritt, which was named with Old Norse skjallr ‘resounding’ (a river name or a waterfall) + vath ‘ford’.
- English : metonymic occupational name for someone who grew or sold caraway, from Middle English skirwhit(e) ‘caraway’, ‘water parsnip’ (apparently an alteration of Old French eschervis), a plant cultivated for its tubers, which were used in sauces and medicine.