Bennet
A surname from the personal name Benedict, meaning “blessed.”
The #9,237 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 87,637 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bennet is a surname formed from the medieval personal name Bennet, an English shape of Benedict. The ultimate source is Latin Benedictus, meaning “blessed.” In surname use, it began as a patronymic or family-name form, essentially meaning “son of Bennet/Benedict.”
History
Bennet was a common medieval English surname because Benedict was a widely used given name, helped by the popularity of the Benedictines. Older writers note Bennet as an especially usual English form, alongside later spellings such as Bennett. The name also appears in Scotland and Cornwall, where it was treated as an established surname form.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries remark that Bennet became familiar in part through the influence of the Benedictine order.
From the historical record
“BENJAMIN. (Heb.) The son of the right hand. BENNET. A contraction or rather a corruption of Benedict, from the Latin, Benedictus, blessed. 276 ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY BENONI. (Heb.) Son of my grief, sorrow. BERIAH. (Heb.) In fellowship. . BERNARD. (Teutonic.) Of a child-like disposition.”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names