Scurfield origins, possibly Norse?
Looking for the clarification of name origin for Scurfield.Its my mothers maiden name and from initial family research the family is traced back to Co Durham and that appears to be where this family 'started'
Another friend of mind says it has Norse origins because of the 'Scur' part which means shower either a rain shower or possible shower of arrows. This is because it is pronounced 'sk' not 'sh' which is aparently anglo saxon.There are varient spellings of the surname which are believed to be related to our family - scourfield is one of them.
The only other cluster of the name is the Hunter Scurfields in Wales.So if anyone could clear this origin up for me it would be great. I would love to find out if it refers to an actual place and how I may be able to narrow the location down.Thanks
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Replies

The only suggestion I have found concerning this name is that the "closest similar name" is Schofield, but I don't think the two names have a common origin. I don't know if this URL will access the website where this suggestion occurs, but I'll copy it anyway -
http://www.spatial-literacy.org/UCLnames/Statistics.aspx?name=SCURFIELD&year=1998&altyear=1881&country=GB&type=name
There must have been a minor place name, Scurfield, or similar, somewhere in England. Perhaps it was literally a field with just one dwelling, on the outskirts of a village somewhere.
I think the Norse suggestion has some merit, though I'm dubious about the "shower" explanation. Possible alternatives are skor, "ditch, ravine", or skógr, "wood"; but regard all the above with caution.
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