Daggett
An English surname with several possible origins, most likely from the Old English name-element dag- meaning “day,” though some authorities also link it to London’s Dowgate or to a Yorkshire nickname form.
The #6,709 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 61,320 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname has been explained in more than one way. One traditional analysis connects it with the Old English personal-name element dag-, meaning “day,” so Daggett would be a diminutive or derivative of a short name like Dag. Another older dictionary proposes a local origin from Dowgate in London, treating Daggett as a corruption of that place name, while a third line of explanation treats it as a Yorkshire development related to Tagg. Because the historical sources disagree, the safest view is that Daggett is an English surname of uncertain derivation.
History
Bardsley records Daggett in Yorkshire and suggests it may be related to Tagg, but also notes the older personal-name element Dag. Other 19th-century reference works class it as local and connect it with Dowgate in London. The surname is found in Britain and later carried to North America, where it survives as an uncommon family name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Old English dag- element that may lie behind Daggett also appears in names like Day and in compounds such as Daegheard and Daegmund.
From the historical record
“sign over a shop or inn. DAGGETT. Local. Probably a corruption of Dowgate, a place in London, so called from dow, British, water — the water-gate. DALE, DELL, or DEAL. Nearly synonymous ; a bushy vale; low gro ind, with ground ascending around it 110 ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names