This curious and long-established surname is of early medieval English origin, and derives from the medieval male given name "Wauklet, Walkelot", itself a double diminutive of the Old German personal byname "Walho, Walico", from "walh", foreign(er). In his work, "Surnames of Scotland", George F. Black refers to a "domus Wauklet" (the house of Wauklet) in Edinburgh mentioned in the confirmation of the foundation of Holy Trinity, Edinburgh. The surname derived from this personal name first appears on record in England in the mid 14th Century (below). In 1365, John Walkelate was noted in a Calendar of Plea and Memoranda Rolls preserved among the Archives of the City of London, and in 1511, a George Walklot appears in Charters of the Hospital of Soltre, of Trinity College, Edinburgh. Surnames derived from given names are the oldest and most pervasive surname type, and in vernacular naming traditions (as distinct from religious), names were originally composed of vocabulary elements of the local language, later represented in shortened and familiar forms, as in "Walkelot" from "Walho". In the modern idiom the surname is variously spelt: Walklate, Walklett and Walklot(t). On February 11th 1643, Dorothy, daughter of Gregory Walklate, was christened at St. Gregory by St. Paul, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Walkelate, which was dated 1353, in a "Calendar of Letter Books for the City of London", during the reign of King Edward 111, known as "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377. 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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