Benoit
A French surname from the personal name Benoît, meaning “blessed.”
The #1,775 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,315 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Benoit comes from the French personal name Benoît, ultimately from Latin benedictus, meaning “blessed.” In origin it is a baptismal or patronymic surname: it identified someone as the son or descendant of a man named Benoît. The old sources also note that the name is widespread in French-speaking areas and appears in several spellings.
History
French surname references from the 19th century treat Benoit as a common family name derived from a Christian given name, and Moisy notes it among surnames that began as baptismal names. The name was carried abroad, especially by French emigrants and Huguenot families, where it was sometimes simplified in spelling, including forms like Benoi. In English-speaking countries it is usually encountered as a French or French-Canadian surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same root behind Benoit also lies behind the English given name Benedict: both ultimately mean “blessed.”
From the historical record
“Qu'à dreit port puisse ancre giter ! BENOIT DB Saute Mors, Roman de TroU:, v. 1 4tJ7 ! . Tous les noms, sans exception^ compris dans ce recueil, ont été relevés, ou parmi ceux qui nous étaient personnellement connus comme appar- tenant à des familles habitant la Normandie, ou dans divers recueils d'adresses, tables…”
— Noms de famille normands