Bamlet

Recorded as Bamlatt, Bamlet, Bamlett, Bamblett, Bemlott, and others, this is an unusual and complex diminutive surname. It is almost certainly English, and probably derives from the ancient pre 7th century personal name Bimme. This is found in place names such as Bamber Bridge in Lancashire, but originally Bimbridge or Bimsbridge, or from Beam(e), which may have also been a personal name, and found in places like Bampton and Bamford. However these names could also in some cases have described a bridge or causeway made of beams! To the original name has been added a short form of the French word "petit" to create a diminutive "Little Bimme" or ostensibly "son of Bimme". The major dictionaries of surnames do not list this surname. This is either because they do not know the meaning and origin, or more likely because it is relatively small in numbers with an estimated less than one thousand nameholders, and they do not have the space for many rare name. The surname was probably first recorded in the 13th century, although the first recording we have is Elizabethan. This that of Jone Bamlett, who married Richard Dixon at the church of St Michael Bassishaw in the city of London on June 23rd 1594.