This unusual name is a medieval nickname surname of French origin. The derivation is from the Old French pre 11th Century 'pye', meaning the magpie. Pyatt is the diminutive form, the suffix 'att' denoting the 'son of' or 'little'. Presumably the original nickname was given to one who enjoyed bright clothes. Very occasionally this surname may be locational from Pyotts Hill in Hampshire, as the variants in the modern idiom include Pyott, and Pyett. During the Middle Ages when it was becoming increasingly common for people to migrate from their birth place to seek work elsewhere, they would often adopt the place name as a means of identification thus resulting in the wide dispersal of the name. Elzabeth Pyatt married Samuell Dowell on 10th August 1582 at St. Gregory by St. Paul, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Simon Pyot, which was dated 1297, the Duchy of Cornwall, during the reign of King Edward I, The Hammer of the Scots, 1272 - 1307. 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.

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