Colquitt - Name

This rare and unusual name is first recorded in London at the end of the 16th Century and may well be one of the earliest recordings of the Huguenot refugee surname. The modern spellings derive from the French heraldic name "Colliquet" recorded in Lorraine before 1580. The name is one of the many derivatives of the Greek "Nicholas", in this case to "col" plus the two diminutives "in" and "et" to translate as "the son of the son of Col". The name recordings in England include Stephen Colquite who married Mrs Jane Alley by Civil Licence on October 30th 1631, and Goodwin Colquitt who married Catherine Collins at St. Philips Birminghamshire on November 2nd 1782. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Nicholas Colquilt, which was dated 1600, witness at St. Mary Aldermary, London on May 4th, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.