This interesting surname has two possible origins, the first, and the most likely to be the source for modern-day bearers of the name, being from the Middle English and Old French personal name "Picot" or "Pigot". These were diminutive forms of the name "Pic", itself from a Germanic personal name derived from a root word meaning "sharp", "pointed". The name "Picot" could also have formed an occasional nickname, perhaps for someone who used a pointed tool for breaking up the ground, or a pike fisherman, or a soldier, a pikeman. Another use of the word as a nickname would be for a tall, thin person, in a transferred sense of one of the above. Early recordings of the surname include Robert Picot, circa 1140, Records of St. Benet of Holme, Norfolk, 1020 - 1240; William Piket, 1177, the Pipe Rolls of Berkshire, and Waubert Pyket mentioned in the Calendar of Letter Books of the City of London, in 1277. One Walter Piggott was an early emigrant to Virginia, leaving London on the "Abraham" in 1635. Jone, daughter of Johis Piggott, was christened on August 6th 1540 at Benington, Hertfordshire, as was Elizabeth Piggot on March 15th 1545. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger Picot, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of Cheshire, during the reign of King William 1, known as "The Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.