Skeat or Skeats is a common English family name. The names Skeat, Skeats, Skeates, Skett, Skitt and Skates are derived from the forename Scet or Schett, which is mentioned in Domesday Book.
History
''Skeat'' was originally a given name derived from the Old Norse ''skjótr'', meaning "swift" or "fleet". Ricardus filius (son of) Schet 1166 is mentioned in the
Pipe Rolls of
Henry II in
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
. It is mentioned as a surname in the 1201 Pipe Rolls in
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
and in the 1275
Hundred Rolls The Hundred Rolls are a census of England and parts of what is now Wales taken in the late thirteenth century. Often considered an attempt to produce a second Domesday Book, they are named after the hundreds by which most returns were recorded.
Th ...
in Norfolk again. Robert Skeet is mentioned in the
Subsidy Rolls of
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
for 1327.
People surnamed Skeat or Skeats
* Bob Skeat, bass guitarist in
Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash are a British rock band who achieved success in the early and mid-1970s. Their popular albums included ''Wishbone Ash'' (1970), ''Pilgrimage'' (1971), '' Argus'' (1972), ''Wishbone Four'' (1973), ''There's the Rub'' (1974), and '' ...
*
Ethel Skeat (1865–1939), English paleontologist
*
Ernest Willington Skeats (1875–1953), geologist
*
Francis Skeat
Francis Walter Skeat (3 December 1909 – 31 August 2000) was an English glass painter who created over 400 stained glass windows in churches and cathedrals, both in England and overseas. Skeat was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Fellow ...
(1909–2000), English glass painter
*
Len Skeat
Leonard Skeat (9 February 1937 – 9 March 2021) was a British jazz double-bassist, and the younger brother of Bill Skeat, a saxophone player (1926 – 1999).
Biography
He was born in East End of London, and worked with the Ted Heath band. Duri ...
, jazz double-bassist
*
Theodore Cressy Skeat
Theodore Cressy Skeat (15 February 1907 — 25 June 2003) was a librarian at the British Museum, where he worked as Assistant Keeper (from 1931), Deputy Keeper (from 1948), and Keeper of Manuscripts and Egerton Librarian (from 1961 to 1972).
Skeat ...
(1907–2003), paleographer
*
Walter William Skeat
Walter William Skeat, (21 November 18356 October 1912) was a British philologist and Anglican deacon. The pre-eminent British philologist of his time, he was instrumental in developing the English language as a higher education subject in th ...
(1835–1912), philologist and etymologist
*
Walter William Skeat (anthropologist) (1866–1953), anthropologist
References
{{given name, type=surname, cat=Surnames