Nevitt Family Lines: The English surname Nevitt is a corruption of the much older name "Knyvet", however since the 17th century,the first letter has been dropped from this surname. There are,in fact, two possible origins of this name. On the one hand, it could be of local origin, thatis, it was descriptive of the place where the original bearer once lived or held land. In this case it would have refere to somebody who hailed from "Knyvet", probably a place in France. In the Wake of the Norman Conquest of 1066,many Norman people settled in england and consequently, their language and culture was intergrated into the existing Anglo-Saxon society. Alternatively, this name could be of occupational origin, that is it was used to denote the trade, profession or rank of the original bearer. In this case, the name is derived from the old English word "knyft" which would have literally have meant "knight". The original bearer of the name in this instance therefore, would have been somebody of considerable social standing. Records of this surname in England date back to the 13th century. An example of this is Mathew de Knyvet who was mentioned in the Hundred Rolls of 1273.The same source also lists one Geoffrey Knifet and one Alexander de Knyft. From later records it is possible to see that the name underwent various orthographics changes and thus, in 1634, there is a record of the baptism of Ann Nevit in St. Antholins Church in London (Parish Registers) BLAZON OF ARMS : Or,a lion passant guardant gules. Translation: The lion is a symbol of Majesty and Kinship. CREST: An arm in armour embowed, holding a battle-axe all proper. Translation: The Battle-axe denotes a Fierce Warrior. Origin: ENGLAND Taken from framed Family Name History of NEVITT name. While doing the research for this page, I have been amazed at what info I have been able to aquire, made new friends and found cousins I didn't even know about. I have tried to enter correct information on this page, ifyou find anything that is an error, please inform me about what you find and I will correct it as soon as possible.I am collecting data from relatives that I hope to be adding shortly. Keeping up the search, Andrea
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