The Conant Name
The Conant name dates back to (or before) the Middle Ages!
Few families in this country (England) can trace a longer authenticated line than the Conants
A credible story of the Conant name in the Middle Ages
Few families in England can trace a longer authenticated line than the Conants, for it extends two generations beyond Roger, the immigrant ancestor who landed on American shores in 1623. The name appears to be primarily of Celtic derivation, and in its early form of Conan, or Conon, is found among various races of Celtic origin, including the Britons, Welsh, Irish, Gaels and Bretons. Etymological research indicates that the word is the equivalent of the Welsh cun, Irish cean, Saxon cuning, German konig, Dutch koning, Swedish konung and the Oriental khan - all meaning head, chief, leader or king.
Whether the family came from the Breton of Cornish branch of the Celtic race it is impossible to say. At all events, they were settled in Devonshire as early as the beginning of the fourteenth century. In England thirty-two ways of writing the name have been found, and there are nine others in America, making forty-one in all. Some of the American forms, which include nine also used in England, are: Conant, Cannant, Connont, Connott, Connanght, Connunght, Connaught, Conet, Connet, Connett, Conat, Cunnet, Cunnant, Conit, Connit, and Connitt. In Devonshire, the old home of the family, the name is written Conant, the common pronunciation is Connet or Cunnet. The earliest example of the name with the final t yet found, occurs in the Patent Rolls of England in the year 1277 when there was litigation between Robert Couenaunt and Filota, late wife of Richard Couenanunt, touching the tenement in Alveton, Staffordshire. Four years later, a Robert Conet was a tenant of the manor of Horncastle, Lincolnshire. In the year 1327 Alexander Conaunt was living in the Hundred of Exminster, Devonshire.
Another credible note about the early Conant name
Origin of Conant from Surname DBThe first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Conan, which was dated circa 1198, in the "Records of St. Bartholomew's Hospital", London, during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "Richard the Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
Conant name from Frederick Odell Conant
See our old pedantic friend F.O Conant for a detailed view of the Conant name in the Middle Ages. What did Frederick do in his spare time?
Click to see his tome.
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A Less Credible Theory of the Conant Name
THERE is no reason to doubt that the progenitor of the Conant family in England and America came originally from Normandy, in 1066, as one of the followers of William the Conqueror. From "Upper Canada Sketches" by Thomas Canant
Another not so credible theory of the Conant name
Would you believe that the first discovered example of the Conant name was Little John Conant from Camelot in the early 12th century? He died at a much too early age after shouting, “O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade. . . Then, shalt thou count to six. No more. No less. Six shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be six.”