Millet
Usually a French surname from the word for millet, the cereal grain, though in some cases it may be tied to other shortened names.
The #7,207 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 66,669 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In French, Millet is commonly explained as a name connected with mil, the word for millet, giving it the sense of someone associated with the grain or a field where it grows. Some older surname writers also treat it as a diminutive form built from a personal name such as Émile, and in English records it can appear as a variant spelling of similar-sounding names. Because the form occurs in more than one naming tradition, the surname can have more than one origin depending on the family.
History
The surname is well established in French naming, where it appears alongside other surnames drawn from plants, crops, or cultivated land. It also turns up in English-language records as Millet or Millett, sometimes reflecting French ancestry and sometimes a separate English spelling tradition. The name is common enough to be familiar in both France and the English-speaking world, but its bearers are not all from a single family line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname lists group Millet with other plant-based surnames such as Olive, Cherry, Pear, and Laurel, showing how often everyday nature words became family names.
From the historical record
“Robert Millet George Hospital”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United KingdomNotable people named Millet
- Jean-François Millet (1814–1875)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.