Gant
An old surname that can point to someone from Ghent or serve as a short form of Gaunt, with roots in medieval English and French records.
The #2,550 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 21,793 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Gant is usually treated as a reduced form of Gaunt, and in medieval records it could refer to someone “of Ghent,” the Flemish city now in Belgium. The name therefore has a locational sense, ultimately tied to the place-name Ghent/Gand. Some older writers also connected it with a nickname based on French le gaut/gaunt, meaning lean or thin, but the Ghent origin is the stronger and more common explanation.
History
Medieval forms such as de Gant and le Gant appear in English records from the 13th century. Bearers with this surname occur in both English and Continental contexts, and later English spelling often shifted toward Gaunt, which is why dictionaries commonly tell readers to see that form. The surname remained comparatively uncommon but survives in modern Britain, North America, and elsewhere.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One famous medieval bearer was Gilbert de Gant, a major Norman landholder in England, which helped keep the name visible in early English history.
From the historical record
“gandr, a wolf. GANT. See Gaunt. Le Gaut and De Gant. H.R. GANTLETT. See Gauntlett. GAPP. From residence near some gap or pass. In the chalky cliffs of Sussex many places are so called, as Birling Gap, GAR”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom