The family is recorded since 1470 in north-west Germany in the state of Lower Saxonia with the name SPANUTH and SPANNUTH. Previous genealogists have recorded from church records of birth, marriage and death that a part of the family has moved into east and south-east Germany mainly into the state of Thüringen and Saxonia using the family name endings "NAUS" and "NNAUS" which is the old high German language whereas the "NUTH" name ending is an low German dialect.
E-mail sent by Michael Spanuth, German hobby-genealogist, October 11, 2002 (SPANNAUS-L@rootsweb.com)