Short surname meaning

Short is an English descriptive surname from Middle English short, referring to a person of short stature or sometimes a small build. Descriptive bynames were practical identifiers in medieval communities and later became hereditary, so the original bearer may have been short without the description applying to later generations. Short, Shortt, and Shorte are historical spelling forms, not automatic evidence of separate origins. The catalog uses nickname because the surname began as a physical description, with high confidence for that basic route. A particular family still requires records to connect it with a specific medieval bearer or locality.