TILLETT
The surname Tillett is an English family name that can be traced back to the medieval period of the British Isles. It originates from the given name Til, itself a shortened form of the female name Matilda.
The diminutive suffix -ett was added to the root name, producing a meaning equivalent to “little Til.” In this construction the suffix denotes smallness or an affectionate diminutive, a common practice in English patronymic development.
As a patronymic, Tillett identified individuals as the descendants of a person named Til or, by extension, of the older name Matilda. The name Matilda derives from the Old German *maht and* *hild*, meaning “mighty battle maid,” a testimony to the martial values that characterised early medieval society.
The earliest surviving record of the family name is that of Cecilia Tillote, dated 1279 in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire, which were compiled during the reign of King Edward I, the so‑called Hammer of the Scots. This demonstrates that the name was already established by the late twelfth century.
In 1379 the surname appears in the “Poll Tax Returns” of Yorkshire, where an individual named Tillot Hobwyfe is listed. This evidence supports the position that the name had become widespread throughout England by the thirteenth century.
A further milestone is the 1593 record of the marriage between Richard Tyllett and Johan Tene, entered in the register of St. Dionis, Backchurch, London. That entry shows the persistence of the surname into the early modern period.
The surname is well documented in Essex church registers from the early seventeenth century onward. For example, on 3 April 1621 Sarah, the daughter of Thurston and Joyce Tillett, was christened at Clochester.
Variant spellings of the surname appear in later records: the form Tillit is recorded in 1622 and the spelling Tillet in 1635, both from Colchester registers. These variations illustrate the common orthographic fluidity of English surnames before the advent of standardised spelling.
In contemporary usage the name is generally spelt Tillet or Tillott, although the traditional spelling Tillett remains in use. The surname is associated with the Christian religion, as reflected in the church–based documentation that has preserved its history.
Typical given names associated with the Tillett surname
Male
- Andrew
- Anthony
- David
- Ian
- John
- Mark
- Matthew
- Michael
- Paul
- Richard
- Steven
Female
- Cheryl
- Diane
- Elizabeth
- Janet
- Julie
- Karen
- Katie
- Lisa
- Louise
- Margaret
- Patricia
- Pauline
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Tillett in...
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There are approximately 1,350 people named Tillett in the UK. That makes it roughly the 5,835th most common surname in Britain. Around 21 in a million people in Britain are named Tillett.
Surname type: Diminutive
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Tillett
- Ben Tillett - Politician (1860 to 1943)
- Louis Tillett - Politician (1865 to 1929)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.