Emmitt

This interesting surname is of early medieval English origin, and has two distinct possible origins, each with its own history and derivation. Firstly, the name may derive from Emmot, a diminutive pet form of the female personal name Emma, introduced into England by the Normans, among whom it was extremely popular. The ultimate origin is the Germanic "Emma" or "Imma", hypocoristic forms of women's names with a first element "ermin, irmin", whole, entire, universal. The initial introduction of the name occurred, unusually, before the Conquest of 1066, when Emma, daughter of Richard, Duke of Normandy, married, first, King Ethelrede the Unready in 1002, and later married King Canute in 1017. In England, the personal name was popular from the 11th Century on in the forms "Em" and "Emm", with the variant Emmot being well recorded in the 1273 Hundred Rolls. The name may also be locational from Emmott in Lancashire, recorded as "Emot" in 1296, and so called from the Olde English pre 7th Century "eagemot" meaning "junction of streams". One William de Emot was noted in the 1324 "Court Rolls of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster". A Coat of Arms granted to the Emmott family of Emmott, Lancashire, is a shield divided per pale azure and sable, with a fesse engrailed ermine between three gold bulls' heads cabossed, the Crest being a hind sejant reguard resting the dexter paw upon a beehive proper. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ranulph Emmot, which was dated 1332, in the "Subsidy Rolls of Warwickshire", during the reign of King Edward 111, known as "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377. 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.