Elliot
Pronunciation | /ˈɛliət/ |
---|---|
Gender | Unisex, although historically male |
Language(s) | English, Breton |
Origin | |
Word/name | Scotland (~1300 AD); England (1180 AD); Brittany, France (before 1066 AD) |
Meaning | 'With Strength and Right' or 'Bravely and Truly' or 'Boldly and Rightly' or ‘The Lord is my God’ |
Other names | |
Alternative spelling | Elliott, Eliott, Elliotte, Eliot, Elliot, Elyot, Elliota |
Elliot (also spelled Eliot, Elliotte, Elliott,[1] Eliott[2] and Elyot[3]) is a personal name which can serve as either a surname or a given name. Although the given name was historically given to males, females named Elliot have increased from 414 in 2009 to 770 in 2013, in United States.[4][5]
Surname origin
Differences in spelling can be distinguished in this rhyme:
The double L and single T / Descent from Minto and Wolflee, / The double T and single L / Mark the old race in Stobs that dwell. / The single L and single T / The Eliots of St Germans be, / But double T and double L, / Who they are nobody can tell.
Scotland
The origin of the Scottish surname is obscure, due to much of the genealogy of the Eliott clan being burnt in the destruction of the castle at Stobs in 1712 AD.[6] The clan society usually accepts that the name originated from the town and river Elliot in Angus, Scotland.[7] Other sources claim that the Scottish surnames (Eliott, Elliot) originate from the Ellot Scottish border-clan, from a transformation of the name Elwold.[8] Whatever their true origin, the Scottish Elliots became notorious Border Reivers – cattle thieves – in the Scottish-English border area and a thorn in the side of both governments.
The whole subject of the Scottish name origin is discussed by Keith Elliot Hunter on the Elliot Clan website[9] where he argues for a Breton origin to the name and the first chief being William d'Alyth. Under that name, the d'Alyths played a key role in the Scottish Wars of Independence[10] However, Mark Elliot presents a well-argued case that there is no connection between the Elliot river and town with the clan and believes the origins are in the first name of Elwald, which appears in Northumberland in the 8th century king, Elwald 1. The name has Anglo-Saxon origins and appears alongside Armstrong in Northumbrian records dating from 1165.[11] The first chief is claimed to be Robert Elwold (1305–67), who came from York, but migrated to the area around Hermitage Castle[12] Robert Elwold of Redheuch is granted lands around Redheuch and Larriston in the 1484 Sasine deed[13] Robert, 13th clan chief, who was killed at the Battle of Flodden is recorded with the surname 'Elwold'.
The original Anglo-Saxon surnames from Northumbria like Aelwold, Ellwald, Elaund, Elwaird, Elwods, Alwods, Elyards, Halwads seem to have mixed together eventually as Ellot. Sir Arthur and the Dowager Lady Eliott maintained that the family were originally known as Ellots. Lady Elliot in:'The Elliots: The Story of a Border Clan' says: "Around 1650 someone added an "i" to our name to make it Elliot, which was without a doubt unfortunate as it confuses the clan with a well-known English Norman family called Eliot who settled in West England". That would exclude the idea that the Cornish Eliots set the clan up a few centuries earlier, but it is said that this was some means of expressing solidarity with John Eliot, who was regularly imprisoned by Charles I until his death in 1632.
A Thomas Elyot is recorded in West Lothian, dying in 1505.[14]
Southeast England
The origin of the east English name is in Cambridgeshire. The first recorded sign of the name relates to Henry Elyot at the Priory of St Mary and St. Radegund in Cambridge in about 1180.[15] An Elyat (or Elyot) is in Bury St. Edmunds in 1188. By 1220, Elyot is well-established in Cambridge in Great St Andrew's Parish where a William Elyot appears. A William Eliot appears in about 1270 in the same parish.[16]
The surname reaches London early in the 14th century. Johanne Eliot appears in the 1319 Portsoken (near Aldgate) Subsidy Roll of 1319 with a reference to him being found in 1311 under John Elyot.[17] In the Museum of London is (to quote the caption[18]) "a bronze jug with three feet and three bands of lettering around the neck and body. The neck is straight with a pointed spout. The body is fat and bulbous. This fine bronze jug is inscribed: "+THOMAS:E[L]YOT/ +HI RECOMAND ME TO EU/ +WYLLEAM:ELYOT" ". William Elyot of Cheshunt (north of London) received land at Kingston upon Thames (south-west London) in 1343: Grant by John, son of John Donnyng of Kyngeston, to William Elyot, of Chestehunte, of a grange and land in Kyngeston. Thursday, the feast of St. Edmund the King. 17 Edward III.[19]
The surname first appears in Sussex in the 14th century as Godefro Elyot at Thakham[20] and William Elyot in Grinstead[21] are listed in the Subsidy Rolls of 1327 & 1332. A Stephen Elyot is recorded in September 1364 as a "vintner of Rye" in east Sussex and later became its MP in 1377.[22]
William Elyot was Constable of Horsham in 1401[23] and his grandson, Thomas Elyot (1420–67) a Filacer (issuer of the Royal Writs) is buried at Wonersh church in Surrey, not far north of Horsham.[24] It is from him that the Elliots of Godalming descend with their arms being Azure with a fess or (blue with a gold strip across the centre).[25] The Surrey Elyots changed to Eliott in about 1500 and then changed to Elliott during the 1700s (see Elliott v Davenport 1705, a famous legal case about Wills brought by the main family) and settled on it by the end of the 18th century.
It is not made easier by a member of the clan Eliott Stobs family, George Augustus Eliott, (1717–1790), the defender of Gibraltar, being made 1st Baron Heathfield, which is in Sussex, although he died childless.
Southwest England
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Eliot_arms.svg/220px-Eliot_arms.svg.png)
The name in the West Country derives from the Eliot family (South England) of Cornwall at Port Eliot/St. Germans, who claim descent from a Norman knight, Sir William de Aliot. It is unknown exactly when the Eliots settled in Devon, but it is estimated they prospered there for 8 to 10 generations before moving to St. Germans. The earliest record is of a William Elyot,[26] who appears in the Somerset Assizes rolls in 1257 and there is a record of the surname in an indenture signed in 1400 by RYC Elyot.
France
The name Eliot appears in Normandy in 1195 and a son of Anschar Elyot in 1198.[27]
It has been argued by Keith Elliott Hunter[28] that the origins of the St. Germans Eliot family were among the Bretons accompanying William the Conqueror, who were originally rewarded with lands in Devon. The Breton origin of Eliot and Elliot is indicated by these names being in significant clusters in Morbihan, southern Brittany. Soon after victory at the Battle of Hastings Elliots, under Count Brien of Penthievre (Morbihan), were despatched to the West Country. Other Eliots were sent later to Monmouthshire in South Wales and to the marcher counties, where significant clusters of the name can be found today. Bretons also settled in the north, as vassals of the Breton Earl of Richmond, Alan of Penthievre.
Large surviving clusters of Eliots in Normandy (Seine Maritime) today could be due to later grants of land. The Alliots, found also in Southern Brittany and the Loire Atlantique, had lands in the modern French departement of Aisne. One variant in Scotland was Dalliot (or, more likely, d'Alliot) and a variation from the Breton original name Ellegouet, from which the Scots variant Elligott is derived, is to be found in clusters in Finistere. Elot is also a Breton name variant.
Northern Ireland
Robert Bell in The Book of Scots-Irish Family Names adds: "For double L and double T, / the Scots should look across the sea!" He pointed out that 71 of 76 births of children by that name in Ireland in 1890 spelt it "Elliott". Elliot(t)s emigrated or were sent to north Ireland in the early 17th century after the Border area was pacified, following the union of the English and Scottish crowns in 1603. Many settled in county Fermanagh.
DNA
The Elliot Clan Society has an extensive list of DNA results[29] which point to native Celtic origins for the clan. However, the three contributions from Sussex do suggest both a native origin in the area and the unusual J haplotype from southern Europe. There are also suggestions of French DNA from the Surrey Elliotts.
Surname myths
Some sources claim it may be derived from a French form of Elias, which is itself derived from the biblical name "Elijah".[30]
Legend also has it that the extra "t" in Eliott arose when a branch of the Eliotts adopted Christianity.
It is claimed that the surname originated in the early 13th century as "Eliot", as there is supposed to be a reference to "Geoffrey Eliot", Abbot of Hyde, in documents linked to the creation of Magna Carta. However, the Abbot of Hyde Abbey (near Winchester in Hampshire), who signed the 1224 version was Abbot Aston[31] and the 1297 version confirmed by Edward I mentions the Abbot of Hyde as a witness, but does not name him.[32]
There are also records in the Domesday Book of the name spelled "Ailiet",[33] thought to originate from an old English name "Æþelgeat" (meaning "noble gate") and leading to the English and Scottish given name spelled "Elyat".
Famous members, fictional characters, and extent of the surname
Among the many famous people with this name are the authors T. S. Eliot and George Eliot (pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans). Jane Austen's last completed novel Persuasion includes characters belonging to the Elliot family of Kellynch Hall: Sir Walter Elliot, Bart. and his daughters, Anne and Elizabeth.
In England, the surname Elliott is well represented in Northumberland, County Durham, Derbyshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire, and in the south, in Surrey, Sussex, London, Cambridgeshire and Cornwall. In Scotland, the surname is well represented in Lanarkshire, Angus, Roxburghshire, Dumfriesshire, and other border counties. In the United States the surname is well represented in Ohio, North Carolina, Michigan, Virginia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Alabama, New Hampshire and Delaware.
Surname
Eliot
- Lord Eliot or Baron Eliot, a title of the Earl of St Germans
- Charles Eliot (diplomat) (1862–1931), British diplomat, colonial administrator and botanist
- Charles William Eliot (1834–1926), American educator and President of Harvard University
- Clara Eliot (1896 – 1976), economist
- Darren Eliot (born 1961), Canadian ice hockey player and sports broadcaster
- George Eliot (1819–1880), English novelist – pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans
- T. S. Eliot (1888–1965), British-American author
- Eliot family (America), an influential American family
- Eliot (born Mark Eliot), American singer, songwriter, and actor
Elliott
- Aileen Mary Elliott (1896–1966), British artist
- Alex Elliott (born 1987), Canadian soccer player
- Alex Elliott (footballer, born 1905) (1905–1988), Scottish footballer
- Arthur Elliott, English footballer
- Barry Elliott (1944-2018) and Paul Elliott (born 1947), better known as The Chuckle Brothers, British comedy double act
- Bill Elliott (born 1955), American racing driver
- Bob Elliott, multiple people
- Brennan Elliott, Canadian actor
- Brian Elliott, Canadian ice hockey goaltender
- Bryn Elliott, English footballer
- Bump Elliott (1925–2019), American college football player, coach, and athletic director
- C. Thomas Elliott, scientist in the fields of narrow gap semiconductor and infrared detector
- Casey Elliott, American racing driver
- Charlotte Elliott, English poet
- Charlotte Elliott, American scientist
- Chase Elliott (born 1995), American racing driver; son of Bill Elliott
- Chris Elliott, American actor
- DeShon Elliott (born 1997), American football player
- Daniel Elliott, multiple people
- Della Elliott (1917–2011), Australian trade unionist
- Denholm Elliott (1922–1992), British actor
- Ebenezer Elliott (1781–1849), English poet
- Edwin Bailey Elliott, English mathematician
- Ezekiel Elliott, American football player
- Fiona Smith (Elliott), English badminton medallist
- Fred Elliott, (1903–1982), Canadian ice hockey player (1917 Ottawa Senators)
- Grant Elliott (born 1979), New Zealand cricketer
- Granville Elliott (1713–1759), British army general
- Harry Elliott, multiple people
- Harvey Elliott (born 2003), English footballer
- Henry Wood Elliott, American environmentalist
- Herb Elliott, champion Australian middle distance runner
- Herbert Elliott (1877–1973), English cricketer
- Jack Elliott (rugby player) (1871–1938), Wales international rugby player
- Jake Elliott (born 1995), American football player
- James William Elliott (1833–1915), composer and collector of nursery-rhymes
- Jane Elliott, American teacher and anti-racism activist
- Jane Elliott (academic), a British sociologist
- Jayrone Elliott (born 1991), American football player
- Joanne Elliott (born 1925), American mathematician
- Joe Elliott, Lead singer for the band Def Leppard
- John Elliot (1876 – 1956), American actor
- John C. Elliott, 39th Governor of American Samoa
- Jordan Elliott (born 1997), American football player
- Ivan A. Elliott, American politician
- Robert G. Elliott, Executioner
- Keith Elliott (1916–1989), New Zealand recipient of the Victoria Cross
- Lloyd Hartman Elliott (1918–2013), American academic
- Marianne Elliott (historian) (1948-), British historian of Ireland
- Marianne Elliott (director) (1966-), British theatrical director
- Martin Elliott (1946–2010), British photographer
- Michele Elliott, British author, psychologist, teacher and the founder child protection charity Kidscape
- Missy Elliott, American hip hop singer
- Peter Elliott, multiple people
- Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 15th Prime Minister of Canada
- Ralph Elliott (1921–2012) German-born Australian professor of English, runologist
- Ralph Nelson Elliott, American accountant who developed the Wave Principle
- Robert Elliott, multiple people
- Roger Elliott (1665–1714), British army general
- Roger James Elliott (1928–2018), British physicist
- Sam Elliott, American actor
- Sean Elliott (born 1968), American basketball player and sportscaster
- Shayne Elliott (born 1963/64), New Zealand banker
- Sophie Elliott, New Zealand murder victim
- Stefan Elliott, Canadian Hockey player
- Stephen Elliott, multiple people
- Ted Elliott, multiple people
- Tony Elliott, multiple people
- Trevor Elliott (1937-), Australian Rules footballer
- Trevor Elliott (geoscientist) (1949-2013), British geologist
- Wade Elliott, British football player
- Will Elliott, Australian author
- Poly Styrene, (1957–2011) Marianne Joan Elliott-Said, British musician
Eliott
- Lord Eliott, a title of the Baronet of Stobs
- Lawrence Eliott, (1559-1598) of Godalming, botanist, who sailed with Drake on his round the world voyage 1577-80
- George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield (1717–1790), the defender of Gibraltar
Elliot
- Adam Elliot (born 1972), Australian animator and Academy Award winner
- Alistair Elliot (1932–2018), British poet and translator
- Lord Elliot – a title of the Earl of Minto
- Little Jock Elliot, Scottish border ballad
- Carma Elliot (Caroline Margaret Elliot, born 1964), British diplomat
- (Mama) Cass Elliot (1941–1974), American singer – pseudonym of Ellen Naomi Cohen
- Charles Elliot (1801–1875), British diplomat
- Daniel Giraud Elliot (1835–1915), American zoologist
- Sir Edmund Halbert Elliot (1854–1926), British Army officer
- Edward Hay Mackenzie Elliot (1852–1921), Scottish amateur footballer who played against England in 1871 and 1872
- Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Locke Elliot, KCB, KCIE, DSO (1850–1938), British Army officer in India
- Sir Francis Elliot (1851–1940), British diplomat, envoy to Greece
- George Elliot (disambiguation)
- Helen Elliot (1927–2013), Scottish table tennis player
- Henry Miers Elliot (1808-1853), English civil servant and historian who worked in India
- Jane Evans Elliot (1820–1886), American Civil War memoirist
- Jim Elliot (1927–1956), American missionary
- Justine Elliot (born 1967), Australian politician
- Lady Charlotte Elliot (1839–1880), Scottish poet
- Robert Elliot, English/Irish Footballer
- Robert Henry Elliot (1837–1914), Scottish agriculturalist
- Walter Elliot (disambiguation)
- Win Elliot (1915–1998), American sportscaster
Elyot
- Kevin Elyot (1951–2014), British playwright, screenwriter and actor
- Thomas Elyot (1420-1467), Filacer (Issuer of writs) for Surrey and Sussex
- Sir Thomas Elyot (1490–1546), British diplomat and scholar
Given name
- Elliot Abravanel, American physician and diet counselor
- Elliot Anderson, American politician and a Democratic member of the Nevada Assembly
- Elliot Aronson, American psychologist
- Elliot Balchin, actor who has had roles in various British television series
- Elliott Belgrave, Barbadian citizen and retired High Court Judge
- Elliot Benchetrit, French tennis player
- Elliot Benyon, English footballer
- Elliot Bigelow, right fielder in Major League Baseball
- Elliot Brown, English actor
- Elliot Bunney, Scottish athlete
- Elliot Caplin (1913–2000), American comic strip writer
- Elliott Carter, American composer
- Elliot Chorley, former Canadian ice hockey right winger
- Elliott J. Clawson (1883–1942), American screenwriter
- Eliot A. Cohen, Robert E. Osgood Professor of Strategic Studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University
- Elliot E. Cohen (1899–1959), founder-editor of Commentary Magazine
- Elliot D. Coleman (1881–1963), cotton planter and law-enforcement officer
- Elliott Colla, American scholar of the Middle East
- Elliot Cowan, English actor
- Elliott Daingerfield (1859–1932), American artist
- Elliot Daly, English rugby union footballer
- Elliot Davis (composer), British composer, musician and music documentary maker
- Elliot Davis (cinematographer) (born 1948), American cinematographer
- Elliot Dee, Welsh rugby union player
- Elliot del Borgo (1938–2013), American composer for winds and strings
- Elliot Dixon, professional rugby union player
- Elliot N. Dorff, Conservative rabbi
- Elliot Easton, lead guitarist for the Cars
- Elliot Eisner, American educational theorist and art educator
- Eliot Engel, US Representative for New York's 16th congressional district
- Elliott Erwitt, advertising and documentary photographer
- Elliot Evans, English teen pop singer
- Elliot Fletcher, American actor and musician
- Elliott Fry (born 1994), American football player
- Elliot Gleave, British singer/rapper
- Elliot Goldenthal, American composer
- Elliott Gould, American actor
- Elliott Hanna, English dancer and actor, played Billy Elliot in the musical
- Elliott Hundley (born 1975), American artist
- Elliot Levine, (born 1963), American jazz keyboardist
- Elliott Maddox (born 1947), American major league baseball player
- Elliot McAdam, former Australian politician
- Elliott Miles McKinley (born 1969), American composer
- Elliott Waters Montroll (1916–1983), American scientist and mathematician
- Elliott Murphy (born 1949), American singer-songwriter and novelist
- Eliot Ness (1903–1957), American prohibition agent
- Elliot Pennington, American figure skater
- Elliot Richardson, American politician
- Elliot Rodger, an American college student, who perpetrated the 2014 Isla Vista massacre
- Elliott Sadler, American racing driver
- Elliot Simmons (born 1998), English footballer
- Elliott Smith (1969–2003), American singer-songwriter
- Eliot Spitzer, American politician
- Eliot Teltscher (born 1959), American professional tennis player
- Eliot Vassamillet (born 2000), Belgian singer who will represent Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019
- Elliott Whitehouse (born 1993), English footballer
- Elliott Yamin, American singer and former American Idol participant
Fictional characters
- Eliot Rosewater, a character in the Kurt Vonnegut novel, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
- Elliot Schafer, protagonist of In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
- Eliot Spencer, from Leverage
- Elliot Alderson, from Mr. Robot
- Elliot Carver, the antagonist in the film Tomorrow Never Dies
- Elliot Edwards, one of two protagonists in the Sega Saturn video game Nights into Dreams...
- Elliot Reid, a female character in Scrubs
- Elliot Richards, the protagonist in the 2000 remake of the film Bedazzled
- Elliot Stabler, a senior detective from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit portrayed by Christopher Meloni
- Elliot Vaughn, the antagonist in the film Vertical Limit
- Elliott, a character in the film Flight of the Phoenix
- Elliott Taylor, a male main character in the film E T: the Extra-Terrestrial[34]
- Elliott, the dragon in the 1977 Disney film Pete's Dragon and its 2016 remake[35]
- Elliott Templeton, a character in The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
- Eliot Waugh, one of the main characters in The Magicians (Grossman novel) by Lev Grossman
- Elyot Chase, one of the lead characters in "Private Lives" by Noël Coward
- Elliot Salem, one of two protagonists later turned antagonist in the video game series Army Of Two
References
- ^ "History". elliotclan.com. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- ^ "The Elliot Name – Elliot Clan Society". elliotclan.com. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- ^ "Sir Thomas Elyot". carlton-cambridgeshire.org.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- ^ "Elliot – Boy Name or Girl Name?". nancy.cc. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- ^ http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/limits.html Note, this sums the six spellings of the name given in the "nancy" reference.
- ^ Dee Elliott-Wakefield. "Clan Elliot Society, USA – (A Brief History of the Elliot Clan)". elliotclanusa.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Elliot Clan Society – Elliot History". Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
- ^ "The-Strange-Disappearance-of-the-Town-of-Eliot" (PDF).
- ^ http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/dtog/WalterdElliot3.pdf
- ^ http://www.elwald.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Ellot-Water-Angus-8-23-2010.pdf
- ^ http://gorrenberry.com/robert-elwald-migration-1305-1367/
- ^ File:Sasine deed 1484 for Robert Elwald (Elliot), Redheugh, Larriston, Hartsgarth.jpg
- ^ https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=Maj1&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&qh=X1eDmY1WLJi7iAs1jh7n7Q%3D%3D&gss=angs-c&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsln=elyot&gsln_x=0&cpxt=1&cp=11&MSAV=1&uidh=000&gl=CLP_WILLS&gst=&ghc=20&fh=20&fsk=BEFq368IgAAGSgAEcXw-61- Ancestry UK Wills & Probate ,
- ^ "Records of the Priory of St Mary and St Radegund".
- ^ "Cambridge, Great St Andrew's parish deeds".
- ^ "Subsidy Roll 1319: Portsoken ward". British History Online. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
- ^ "museumoflondonprints.com".
- ^ 'Deeds: B.1601 - B.1700', A Descriptive Catalogue of Ancient Deeds: Volume 1 (1890), pp. 369-377. "British History Online: A Descriptive Catalogue of Ancient Deeds: Volume 1 (1890)".
- ^ https://www.british-history.ac.uk/suss-record-soc/vol10/pp152-168
- ^ https://www.british-history.ac.uk/suss-record-soc/vol10/pp152-168#h3-0007
- ^ "The History of Parliament". Retrieved 19 June 2018.
- ^ CPR, 1399-1401, p. 458
- ^ "Wonersh Church".
- ^ "British History Online: Parishes: Godalming".
- ^ "The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland".
- ^ "The Norman people and their existing descendants in the British dominions and the United States of America (1874)".
- ^ "select.surnames2.website".
- ^ "Elliot Clan Society: Elliot DNA lineages".
- ^ Mike Campbell. "Behind the Name: Meaning, Origin and History of the Name Elliot". Behind the Name. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- ^ http://www.hyde900.org.uk/hydeabbey/history-of-new-minster-and-hyde-abbey/
- ^ "EAWC Anthology: The Magna Carta". evansville.edu. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- ^ "Surname Database: Ilett Last Name Origin". The Internet Surname Database. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- ^ "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial". IMDB. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ^ "Pete's Dragon". IMDB. Retrieved 12 April 2016.