Recorded in many spellings as shown below, this is an English and French surname, but of Grecian origins. It derives from the famous personal name Phillip of which it is a patronymic. The origination is from Philippos meaning the lover of horses, the name being introduced into Europe by Crusader knights returning from their various Crusades to free the Holy Land from the Muslims. All were unsuccessful, but that did not prevent these and other pilgrims from calling their children by biblical or Grecian names, in honour of the father's exploits. The Latinized form as Philipus appears in the Gilbertine Houses register of Lincolnshire in 1150, and Henry Philip is recorded in the Hundred Rolls of Norfolk in 1275. In the modern idiom the surname has at least ten English spelling forms including: Phillpott, Philipot, Philpots and Phillipott. The Coat of Arms most associated with the family was granted to John Philpot, the Lord Mayor of the city of London in 1378. It has the blazon of a black shield, charged with an ermine bend. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Philipot. This was dated 1327, in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex during the reign of King Edward 111rd of England, 1327 - 1377. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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