Bridgett - Name

Recorded in England as Bridget, Bridgett, Brydgett, and the patronymic Bridgettes, this surname is probably of French pre medieval origins, of which it may have two. The first is from the female personal name Brigitte, from St Brigida, a 7th century Breton martyr, and which as both a personal name and a later surname was widely recorded in France as Bride, Brides, Bridant, Bridat, Brideau, and Bridet. The second possible origin is from the word 'brycg', an Olde English word for a causeway and later a bridge. If so then the origin would seem to derive from a fusing of the words bridge and the French petit, to give Little bridge. This seems an unlikely origin for a surname, but surnames often come from very unlikely sources, and the relative rarity of this name would also suggest a perhaps more unusual origin. However altthough rare, the name is of long recording. The first surviving example in the London church registers being that of Catheryn Brydgett at Christ Church Greyfriars, on April 11th 1544, in the reign of King Henry V111, 1510 -1 547.