Pygott

This interesting surname is of Old French origin, introduced into England after the Norman Conquest of 1066, and has two possible sources. The first, and most likely to be the origin for modern-day bearers of the name, is from the Middle English and Old French personal name "Picot" or "Pigot". These were diminutive forms of the name "Pic", itself from a Germanic personal name derived from a root word meaning "sharp, pointed". Picot de Grantebrige is noted in the Cambridgeshire Domesday Book of 1086. In some instances, the surname may be from a nickname, perhaps for someone who used a pointed tool for breaking up the ground, or a pike fisherman, or a soldier. Another use of the word as a nickname would be for a tall, thin person, in a transferred sense of one of the above. The creation of surnames from nicknames was a common practice in the Middle Ages, and many modern-day surnames derive from medieval nicknames referring to personal characteristics. In the modern idiom the surname can be found as Pickett, Picot, Pikett, Pykett, Piggot, Piggott, Pigot, Pigott and Pygott. On August 8th 1546, Alys Pygott married Stephen Jonson at St. Margaret's, Westminster, London, and Edwardus Pygott was christened at St. Andrew's, Enfield, also in London, on February 21st 1573. A Coat of Arms granted to the family depicts three silver pickaxes on a black shield, the Crest being a cubit arm vested bendy of six silver and green, in the hand proper a silver pickaxe. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger Picot, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of Cheshire, during the reign of King William 1, known as "The Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. 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.