Dagger

Recorded in a number of spellings including Dagg, the diminutive Daggett, the occupational Dagger, Daggar, Daggers, the French Dagoneau and Dagonet and others, this surname is surely one of the most unusual and interesting on record. It is generally accepted as deriving from the Old French word "Dague", meaning knife or dagger, and as such was a Norman introduction into England after the 1066 Conquest. The name is a medieval metonymic for one who habitually carried a dagger, or who was a manufacturer of such weapons. As the carrying of any arms was illegal, it is probable that the original nameholders, if not makers, were part of an official guard or even professional assassins, although this latter suggestion seems unlikely. However the name was originally prominent in Yorkshire, where it has been suggested that it may derive not from the French, but from the Norse-Viking "Dag", meaning "day", an early personal name. The earliest examples of of the surname recordings include William Dagenet of Warwickshire in the year 1210, Henry Daget of Yorkshire in the Pipe Rolls of that county in 1219, and Ralph Dagg, in the 1327 Essex Subsidy Rolls. The first recorded spelling of the family name is believed to be that of John Dagenet in the register of the Knight Templars for the county of Hertfordshire. This was dated 1185, during the reign of King Henry 11nd, known as "The church builder", 1154 - 1189. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.