Scales (surname)
The surname 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 " hut, shed, shieling". The surname may also originate from a specific place name of the same meaning, such as Scole, 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 originates from a place name in France. In such cases, it is derived from Écalles-Alix in Seine-Maritime, or from Escalles in Pas-de-Calais.
People with the surname include:
- Alfred Moore Scales, Governor of North Carolina and Confederate Army general during the American Civil War
- Derek P. Scales, Australian literary scholar
- Dwight Scales, former National Football League wide receiver
- George Scales, American baseball player and manager in the Negro leagues
- Harvey Scales, American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and producer
- Helen Scales, British marine biologist
- John Scales, English footballer
- John N. Scales, American former Pennsylvania state senator
- Junius Scales, a leader of the Communist Party of the United States of America
- Patrick Scales (American football), American football player
- Patrick Scales (musician), German electric bass guitar player
- Prunella Scales, English actor best known for the television series Fawlty Towers
- Robert H. Scales, US Army major general
- Sally Scales, South Australian artist, coordinator at the APY Art Centre Collective in Adelaide
- Tegray Scales, American football player
- Thomas Scales, British abolitionist
- Baron Scales, a title in the Peerage of England, including a list of people named de Scales