Bassett
An English and Norman surname that likely began as a nickname for a small or short person, later also attaching to prominent landholding families.
The #1,750 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,074 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bassett is commonly traced to Old French basset, meaning “little low one” or “dwarf,” a diminutive of basse, “low.” In surname use, it likely began as a nickname for a short person before becoming hereditary. Some older writers also treated it as a Norman family-name connected with early under-tenants and baronial lines.
History
The name is well attested in medieval England, and later sources connect it with important Norman-descended families who held lands in Wiltshire and elsewhere. Place-names such as Drayton Bassett and Winterbourne Bassett preserve the family name. Over time, Bassett spread into wider English use and later to North America.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some medieval place-names still carry the surname as a suffix, a reminder that the family name once marked lordship over the land.
From the historical record
“Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. BASSETT. O. Fr. basset, ' a dwarf or very low man." Cotgrave. This family, who became great barons and gave tlieir name as a suffix to Drayton Basset, Win- terbourne Basset, &c., are said to have been of humble origin. One of the family appears in Domesd. as an undertenant.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United KingdomNotable people named Bassett
- Joshua Bassett (b. 2000)
- Angela Bassett (b. 1958)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.