DESCENDANTS OF JOHN KNIGHT

NEWBURY MASSACHUSETTS

"KNIGHT" AS A SURNAME

The name "Knight" as a surname comes from the Anglo-Saxon "knicht, the Dutch "kneght", and the German "knechts", meaning an attendant or military man. In medieval society in France, it came to mean a mounted man-at-arms, belonging to the lowest rank of the nobility, or upper class.

At the time of the conquest of England in 1066, the Norman soldiers were divided into several distinct classes or grades. There were Knights, who were all clad in full armor and mounted, then came battle axe men, and finally the archers.

Knighthood began in England after the conquest, and in its true meaning, it has never been hereditary, but had to be earned. In the Middle ages, a son of a noble served as a page and a squire, before being knighted. He was admitted to a special military rank by the king or other qualified lord, and bound to chivalrous conduct, emphasizing the virtues of piety, bravery, honor and loyalty. These virtues were proved in tournament and in battle.

Under the influence of the Church, the status of a Knight evolved into one of a heroic and honored nature. The word "Knight" became the designation bestowed upon the orders which widely flourished in the days of chivalry, and was applicable to those groups of knights, who in their time filled all the tales of Europe with their deeds of valor. In the crusades they formed great military orders, such as Knight Templars and Knight Hospitalers.

The Knight constituted the backbone of the medieval army, until he was superseded by the introduction of gunpowder to Europe in the 14th century. See Bardsley "Our English Names"; Frances Gies: "The Knight in History".

By the time of Henry VI, the name Knight had become adopted by the heirs of the higher gentry. In modern England, knighthood is not a title of nobility, but is conferred by the king or queen on commoners or nobles for civil or military achievements: a Knight is addressed as Sir and a woman knighted is addressed as Dame.

Surnames were not in general use until about AD 1350. At the time of the introduction of surnames in English records, they were based for the most part on the occupation of a man, e.g. a smith, a miller, a weaver, or upon relationship to a parent, e.g. John's son etc. It is believed that our English ancestors received the name of Knight in the same way.

In the early records, the name is spelled in various ways-Knight (for the most part), Knights, Knit, Knite, Night, and Nite. Most of the variations occur in records before 1790, the year of the first U.S. Census. Many of them resulted from mistakes by town clerks and census takers, not too skilled in spelling, to put In the written record the phonetic rendition of the name as it seemed to them. Sometimes the persons being listed did not know how to spell their names.

In numerous instances, emigrants to this country have taken the name of Knight as representing the English equivalent of their native surname. A John Knight of Portsmouth, NH, was John Chevalier, a French Huguenot, born in Portsmouth in 1659, who took the name of Knight in 1681.

During the days of slavery in this country, many black slaves took the surname of the master, and it was retained after slavery was abolished by the Emancipation Proclamation. Also a number of persons, usually at an early age, have been adopted by Knight families, and assumed that surname. Likewise some Knight children have been adopted by other families and their names were changed.

The 1790 U.S. Census listed the number of heads of Knight families as 63 in Maine, 80 in Massachusetts, 37 in New Hampshire and 17 in Vermont.

Knight ranks number 173 among the most common surnames in the United States, with 135,948 names listed in the Social Security Number File, September 1, 1974. See Social Security Administration Pub. No. 63-034 of February 1981.

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© Mark A. Knight 1998