Jarrett
A surname that usually began as a variant of Gerard or Gerald, with the initial sound shifted over time.
The #1,648 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 14,149 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Jarrett is generally treated as a corruption or altered form of Gerard or Gerald. Those older names go back to Germanic roots meaning roughly “spear” plus “hard, brave, strong.” The spelling and sound changed through dialect and scribal variation, producing forms such as Jarrett, Jarratt, and Jarratt/Jarred.
History
Nineteenth-century surname writers commonly grouped Jarrett with other English forms derived from Gerard or Gerald. The name appears in several spelling variants, especially from the early modern period onward, and was explained by some writers as a form that became established after the Reformation. It later spread into North America and remains in use as a relatively uncommon but well-established surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One historical source explicitly says Jarrett is a form of Gerard, showing how easily j- and g- spellings could shift in older records.
From the historical record
“J and g interchangeable. Hence Jack and Gill, now more correctly printed Jack and Jill ; Joscelyn for Goscelin, now Gosling (imitative) ; Jarrett for Gerard ; cf. gfaoler for jailer. O and a Hence Gusterson for Custerson, Grain (imitative) for Crane, Glitherow for Clitheroe, and vice versa. Especially interesting…”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances