Arnett
A surname that began as a shortened or altered form of Arnold, with the ending -ett giving it a diminutive feel.
The #2,206 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 18,713 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Arnett is generally explained as a variant of Arnold, especially a pet or shortened form built with the French diminutive ending -ett. Arnold itself comes from Germanic elements meaning roughly "eagle" and "power" or "rule." In older records, spellings could shift freely, and the loss or addition of an initial H sometimes produced forms like Harnett beside Arnett.
History
British surname dictionaries place Arnett mainly in the same family as Arnold, with medieval spellings and later variants showing a great deal of fluctuation. The name appears especially in English records, and the modern American distribution reflects later migration from the British Isles. Because medieval spelling was unstable, some older references treat Arnett and Harnett as essentially interchangeable in origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 20th-century surname scholar noted Arnett as one of several English names where an initial H could appear or disappear almost at random in historic records.
From the historical record
“Yorkshire PoIJ Tax, 1379. In the Hundred Rolls of 1273, the same individual is referred to as Hippwell and Ippewell. To-day we find Hadkins and Adkins, Harnett for Arnett, Haskew and Askew, Houselcy and Ouseley, Hadcock and Adcock, Hosgood and O^ood, EiHngham and Heffingham, &c., running side by side. In the…”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances