Servant

This interesting name is a dialectual variant of the name Sergeant an occupational name of Anglo-French orign. The derivation is from the Olde French or Medieval word "Sergent", itself from the Latin Serviens, to serve. The surname probably originated for the most part in this general sense, but the word also developed various specialized meaning, e.g., as a technical term for a tenant by military service, below the rank of a Knight and as a name for certain legal officials in various locations. In the modern idiom, the variants include Sirvent, Servant, Sergant and Sargeant. In St. James, Clerkenwell London one Grace Servant married John Ratto on 23 November 1667. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Adam le Serviant, which was dated 1242, Pipe Rolls of Somerset, during the reign of King Henry III, The Frenchman, 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.