Barefoot Surname

So today I received an email when at work from someone with the surname "Barefoot" this made me smile and wiggle my toes but got me thinking of the names origins. Could this name have been adopted by some medieval person that didn't wear footwear?

 

Surprisingly, many people are named Barefoot. Goes right along with Smith, Tailor, Cooper, Feldman, Weaver, etc.

 

Just me then living in my little bubble! I've not come across many Barefoot's

 

I was on the right track though...

Barefoot Name Meaning
English: nickname for someone who was in the habit of going about his business unshod, from Old English bær ‘bare’, ‘naked’ + fot ‘foot’. It may have referred to a peasant unable to afford even the simplest type of footwear, or to someone who went barefoot as a religious penance. In some instances, probably a translation of German Barfuss, the northern form Barfoth, or the Danish cognate Barfo(e)d.

 

Don't forget the famous judge Harold Barefoot Sanders, who went by his middle name.

 

And let’s not forget all the good people named White, Black, Gold, Brown, Gray, Rose (some of whom enjoy going barefoot, to keep this relevant!)

 

I recall seeing some listing in the phone book for a person with the last name Barefoot.

 

Back in highschool a guy had the last name Foot.

Maybe try typing barefoot as a last name into one of those online people finder sites see how many come up.

 

Back in HS there was a family in our town named Proudfoot.

 

Did the Proudfoot's go barefoot?

 

no never.

 

For what its worth Chester Proudfoot was Matt Dillons side kick/ Deputy on GUNSMOKE back in the day....just sayin...