Hamlet
An English surname that can come from a place-name or from the medieval personal name Hamelot, a diminutive of Hamon.
The #9,994 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 95,676 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name has at least two plausible surname sources. One is a place-based meaning, from a hamlet or small settlement, used for someone who lived in or near such a place. Another, supported by older surname scholarship, is as a reduced or altered form of medieval names like Hamelot or Hamon, with the b in forms such as Hamlet often explained as intrusive.
History
Bardsley notes that Hamlet could represent Hamelot, a diminutive of Hamon, and gives historical examples of Hamlet as a baptismal name as well as a surname. He also treats related forms such as Hamert(on) and Hamilton as part of the same cluster of altered or shortened names. The name is uncommon in modern Britain and the United States, where it survives mainly as a rare surname rather than a major family name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Shakespeare’s Hamlet reflects the old personal name Hamnet, a related form of the same naming family.
From the historical record
“HAMLET ton,* or * Hambledon *; v. Hamerton and Hamilton. The b is intrusive. London, 4, 2 \ New York, i, o. Hamblin, -bling; v. Hamlin. Hambly; v. Hamley.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)