Pickett
Usually from the French nickname Picot, a diminutive of pic, meaning “little point” or “small peak.”
The #1,108 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 9,767 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally traced to Old French Picot, a diminutive of pic, meaning a point, spike, or peak. In medieval English records it appears in forms such as Picot, Piket, and Pickett, with the final -ett/-ot functioning as a diminutive ending. Some 19th-century writers also connected it with place-names like Pitchford or Pickford, but the nickname from French is the stronger and more widely accepted explanation.
History
The name is well attested in medieval England, appearing in forms such as Picot and Piket in records like the Domesday Book and Hundred Rolls. Later spellings and related surnames produced families such as Pigott and Pickford, which older writers sometimes treated as variants or corruptions of one another. The surname remains established in England and was carried to North America and other English-speaking regions.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A medieval bearer named Picot is recorded in Domesday Book, showing how old this surname family is.
From the historical record
“PICKET \ the Frencli Pi(c)quet, Picot = Pic, PICKETT/ P/cj (v. Pick) + the dim. Suff. -et,.-ot. Picot occurs in Domesday Book, and Piket in the Hundred Rolls. . PICKFORD (Eng.) Dweller at i the Ford by the Pick or Peak [v. Pick (Eng.), Peak(e; and + M.E. O.^.ford]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)Notable people named Pickett
- Wilson Pickett (1941–2006)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.