An English and Scottish surname, Booth, comes from the Middle English and Old Danish term of ‘bothe’ which referred to a herdsman shelter and a person who was a shepherd. A spelling variation for Booth is Boothe. In England the Booth surname is very common in Cheshire, Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire and Westmorland. In Scotland most Booth families lived in the central to eastern regions. Highest numbers of Booth individuals were in Aberdeenshire, Angus and Lanarkshire. Within the United States the Booth surname was mostly located in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, New York, Ohio, Georgia, Michigan, Texas, New Jersey and California. Famous: John Wilkes Booth (actor and assassin of President Lincoln), Matthew Booth (footballer from South Africa), Maud B. Booth (co-founder of Volunteers of America), Shirley Booth (movie and television actress), Tony Booth (singer), Keith Booth (professional basketball player), Jack Booth (English rugby footballer) and Hubert Cecil Booth (inventor of powered vacuum cleaners and designer of Ferris Wheels).