96,176 Global Wiatt Family Members

Wiatt Family History

INTRODUCTION

This famous name is of mainly Anglo-Saxon origin, deriving from the medieval male personal name found as "Wiot, Wyot and Gyot", developed from the Olde English pre 7th Century given name "Wigheard", composed of the elements "wig", war, with "heard", hardy, brave, strong. After the Norman Conquest of 1066, and the subsequent introduction of Norman forms of the Old French personal names William (from the Germanic "wil", will, desire, with "helm", helmet, protection), and Guy or Why, Wi, (from the Germanic "wido", wood or wide), the existing English names Wiot, Wyot and Gyot were also frequently used as diminutive forms of the Norman names...

SURNAME

Variants: Whyatt, Wiatt, Wyeth, Wyett

An English relationship name from the Middle English personal names Wiot or Wiet, pet forms of Wy, from Continental Germanic Wido.

Wy is the usual Norman French form of the name; the Parisian French form is Guy, a personal name Gui or Guido, which we have also received in the form of Guy. Wiot was also used as a diminutive of William.

As a surname Wyot(t) became Wyatt during the 16th century, similarly Guyatt or Wyan.

Early bearers of the surnames include: Johannes Wyot, 1377 in Poll Tax (Braunton, Devon); Charles Wyatt, 1541 in IGI (Westminster, Middx); Nicolas Wiatt, 1543, in IGI (Barnstaple, Devon); Jane Wyatt, 1565 in IGI (Cherry Hinton, Cambs); Thomas Wyatt, 1565 in IGI (South Bersted, Sussex); James Wyatt, 1571 in IGI (Alverstoke, Hants); Joane Wyatt, 1572 in IGI (Peatling Magna, Leics); Marye Wyatt, 1604 in IGI (Dulverton, Somerset).

John Wyatt (1700 – 1766) was an English co-inventor of roller spinning, involving elongating cotton threads by running them through rollers and then stretching them through a faster second set of rollers.

James Wyatt was English convict from Berkshire, transported aboard the "Adamant" on 16 March 1821, settling in New South Wales, Australia.

In 1881, the surname was widespread in England and Scotland. It was reported at a top surname in the Plymouth district of Devon where there were 77 occurrences

In 1881, Agricultural Labourer, Farmer and Labourer were the top 3 reported jobs worked by Wyatt. The most common Wyatt occupation in the UK was Agricultural Labourer. A less common occupation for the Wyatt family was Carpenter.

In 1891, the surname was recorded in England and Wales with 9,525 occurrences and a further 22 in Scotland.

Robert "Bob" Elliott Storey Wyatt (1901-1995) was an English cricketer for Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and also the English cricket team, between 1923 and 1951.

1881, 1891 Census

1881 Census in Devon

Dictionary of American Family Homes, P Hanks OUP 2003

Homes of Family Names in Great Britain, H.B. Guppy, London 1890

The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, P.Hanks, Coats, McClure OUP 2016

1860 Lower, Mark A Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom, London: J.R Smith. Public Domain

1857 Arthur, William An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain

https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/adamant/1821

J.M.P