Talbott

TAL-bot

An English surname from the medieval personal name Talbot, made famous by the noble Talbot family.

The #4,787 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 41,801 Americans shares it.

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Etymology

Talbott is a variant spelling of Talbot, a surname that began as a medieval given name. The name is usually taken from Old French, though the deeper meaning of the personal name is uncertain and has been explained in different ways by historical scholars. In English records it appears early as a hereditary surname, often in forms such as Talbot, Talbott, and Talbut.

History

The name is well attested in medieval England and is associated with the famous Talbot family, later the Earls of Shrewsbury. Because the spelling was not fixed, Talbot and Talbott often appear side by side in older records. The Talbot form is now much more common, while Talbott survives as a less frequent variant, especially in the United States.

Origin

patronymic or matronymicOld FrenchMiddle English

Regions

EnglandNorman FranceUnited States

Variant spellings

TalbotTalbutTalbuttTalebot

Fun fact

The Talbot name became especially well known through John Talbot, a celebrated English military commander of the Hundred Years' War.

From the historical record

“TALBOT TALBOTT TALBUT TALBUTTJ Talebotus Talebot.— Pine-Rolls, A.D. 1284. Ta/Jo/ occurs in the listof "Compagnons de, Guillaume ^ la CpnquSte de I'Angle- terre en MLXVI" graven over the main doorway (inside) of the old church at DiveS; and, of course, in the alleged copies”

— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)

Related surnames

Confidence: mixed. Sources: Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1), A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances, The Norman People and their existing descendants in the British dominions and the United States.

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