The name ‘Knight’ is of English origin. It is derived from the Middle English word ‘knyghte’, old English ‘cniht’, meaning youth, serving lad. It was used as a personal name before the Norman Conquest, and the surname may in part reflect a survival of this, It comes from the Middle Ages where the Normans applied the word a tenant bound to serve his lord as a mounted soldier. The surname is more likely to have been applied to a servant in a knightly house or to someone who played the part of a knight in a pageant or won the title in some contest of skill. Compiled information from Historical and Private archive’s has confirmed that the surname ‘Knight’ and or it’s variant’s, dates as far back as the 13th century were a ‘Gilbert le Knyt’, from Cambridgeshire, England, is recorded on the Hundred Rolls in 1273. The exact period of settlement in North America has not been definately determined but Information extracted from Public and Civil registry archive’s confirm that one of the first settlers was a certain ‘Richard Knight’, one of the founders of this family in America, He emigrated fr…
Coat of arms: Sable a griffin serg…