Wight
An old nickname surname meaning “strong” or “swift,” from an Old English/Old Norse word for an active, capable person.
The #6,863 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 62,958 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Wight comes from an old word meaning a person, creature, or, more characteristically, someone swift, lively, or strong. Historical dictionaries connect it with Middle English "wight" and Scots "wicht," and trace it back to Old Norse and Old English forms with the sense of fit, active, or vigorous. In other words, it began as a descriptive nickname for an energetic or powerful person.
History
The word was common in medieval English and Scots literature, so it could easily become a hereditary surname. It is especially well known in Scotland, where "Wight" and related forms like "Wiggs" appear in older surname collections. The surname may also sometimes overlap in spelling with place-based names from the Isle of Wight, so local records can be tricky to interpret.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same old word survives in the phrase "luckless wight," where it still means simply a person.
From the historical record
“WIGHT (A.-Scand.) Agile, Strong [M.E. wyght, wight, wiht (M. Scot, wicht), active, strong ; O.N. uigt, neut. of uig-r, fit for fighting] Sire Werch-wel-with-thyn-hand, A wight man of strengthe. — Piers Plowman, 5194-5. . . . she [Cenobia] koude eke”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)