This interesting and unusual surname recorded in several spelling forms including Lisett, Lissett, and Lycett, can have two possible origins. It can either be of Irish origins and a derivation of the name (Mac) Lysaght, derived from the Gaelic Mac giolla Iasachta, and believed to mean "The son of the loaned one", or it may be from the English village of Lissett, near Bridlington in the East Riding of Yorkshire. In Ireland the Mac Lysaghts are a sub-clan of the O' Briens of Thomond, and in ancient times may have been used by the O'Briens as their fighting men, hence the name.Today in its varied spellings the name is now mainly found in Counties Clare, Limerick and Cork. The English origin is a little more prosaic. It derives from the Olde English pre 7th century words "laes-geset", and as such describes a village which lay in the folds of grasslands. Whether the modern village can be so described, we have not been able to ascertain. However the first recording of the village is in the Domesday Book of 1086, making it a very ancient placename. Early examples of the surname recording include: John Lysset, a witness at the church of St. Martin Orgar in the city of London on April 18th 1540, Jayn Lycett, at the church of St Mary Pattens, also in the city of London, on November 7th 1574, Ann Leasit, christened at All Saints, Wakefield , on November 23rd 1681, and Mary Ann Lissett, who married George White at Bradfield, near Sheffield, both Yorkshire, on June 10th 1824.

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