Wyatt
                   Many scholars believe the surname Wyatt is derived from Guyot.  Guy comes from the old German or Danish word "Wido" (wood or forester).  The Vikings had a nasty habit of sailing up the Seine River and attacking Paris.  In order to end the attacks the French King eventually offered them autonomy in what later became know as Normandy, where they settled under the leadership of Rollo.  These Northmen or  "Normans" rapidly assimilated the French language and Catholicism.  Due to its Latin influence the French language had all but lost its Germanic pronunciation by the 800's.  The Germanic "W" sound was too difficult for the now romance language (French) speaking Normans and their French servants and neighbors.  Thus Wido came to be pronounced in the more French sounding style as Guyot. 

          Adam Guyot was a Norman Admiral in William the Conqueror's fleet in 1066.  Here the long history of this surname takes a turn once again in the opposite direction.  You see, the Anglo-Saxons had difficulty pronouncing the French "G."  Rather than the French sound, they tended to make a "W" sound.  French names like Guilliume and Guyot became William and Wiot as the Normans adopted the Germanic language of the people they conquered.  Over time Guyot shifted to Wiot, Wiatt, and eventually to Wyatt.  The most prolific spelling in the Anglo-Saxon world today is WYATT.  

 
 
 

My Wyatt lineage:

Wyatt, Haute (4 Jun 1594 - 31 Jul 1638)

Wyatt, Edward  (1619 - 1690)

Wyatt, Conquest (1645 - 1690/1720)

    (Conquest was the first Wyatt who was born, had children, and died in north America)

Wyatt, Francis (about 1680 - about 1745)

Wyatt, Thomas (1703 - 1772)

Wyatt, Thomas (around 1725 - ?)

Wyatt, John (abt 1748 - before 1790)    

Wyatt, Edmon (1765 - ?)

Wyatt, Thomas (1810 - 1863)

Wyatt, John W. (1829 - 1908)

Wyatt, John J. (26 Mar 1856 - 26 May 1926)

Wyatt, Asa Harmon (1 May 1879 - 25 Jul 1942)

Wyatt, Owen Truman (12  Dec 1903 - 10 Apr 1977)

This page includes Wyatt family members linked by blood line to the author.

 

Last update: 11/19/2002