History does funny things to names, particularly so where East Anglian dialects are involved. It is possible that the name is a derivative of the Irish 'tuarhach' meaning the 'grandson of a Lord' and generally spelt in English as 'twohig', but our research suggests that the normal origin is Norse-Viking 'Pveit' and later English (Norfolk) 'Thwaite' - meaning a dweller in a forest clearing. There are a number of alternative modern spellings including Thweat and Thoytes, this is another variant. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alan del Twayt which was dated 1301 The Pipe Rolls of Lincoln during the reign of King John nickname Lackland 1216 - 1272 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.