Agget

This interesting and unusual name is a good example of a medieval formation originating in either one of two female personal names. It is a double diminutive, being from "Agg", a short form of either Agatha or Agnes. The vernacular form of the Latin name Agatha was "Agace" or "Aggis", and it derives originally from the Greek word "agathos", meaning good. The name was borne by St. Agatha, a 3rd Century Sicilian martyr. The name Agnes was introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066, and derives from the Greek word "agnos", meaning pure, chaste. The surname first appears in the early 14th Century (see below), and can also be found in the variant spellings Agget and Agott. Recordings of the surname from London Church Registers include: Anne Aggett, who married Thomas Goldey on December 27th 1687, at St. James', Duke's Place; Thomas, son of Thomas and Hannah Aggett, who was christened at St. Mary Whitechapel, Stepney, on September 16th 1761; and Jane Aggett, who married Joseph Farnuex on March 28th 1785, at St. Dunstan's, Stepney. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Gilbert Agote, which was dated 1301, in the "Parliamentary Rolls of Essex", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.