This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Hamon,' from nick. Ham, and double diminutive Ham-el-ot. Later on it assumed the settled form of Hamlet; its rivals were Hamnet and Hamlin, which see. As a font-name Hamon has nearly disappeared, although Hamlet and Hamnet are still retained in a few old-established families. The Masseys of Cheshire have retained this name for centuries. The forms in the Visitation of Cheshire, 1580 (Harl. Soc, pp. 170-5) are Hamon de Massy, 33 Edward III; Hamond Massy, temp. Henry IV; Hamlett Massy, 1566; and Hamnett Massy (p. 124). The De Lacy Inquisition, 1311, has 'The wife of Richard, son of Hamelot' Both Hamlet and Hamnet were commonly used in the last century as font-names, although their relation as diminutives of Hamon was quite forgotten. Hamlet Winstanley, the painter, was born at Warrington in the year 1700. In Kent's London Directory for 1736 several Hamnets are found as font-names. I furnished an instance in Notes and Queries some years ago of the same person being known as Hamnet or Hamlet. It was in the case of one of the Massyes of Cheshire. Shakespeare's little son was alike Hamnet or Hamlet, after his godfather Hamnet Sadler. A good instance occurs in Privy Purse Expenses, Elizabeth of York:

Nov. 13, 1502. Item: the same day to Hamlet Clegge, for money by him layed out, ibid.

June 13, 1502. Item: the same day to Hampnet Clegge, for money by him delivered to the Quene, ibid.

Besides the familiar Hammond the following surnames are undoubtedly sprung from Hamon and its diminutives: Hammett, Hammonds, Hamond, Hamlet, Hamlyn (all from Crockford's Cler. Directory), Hammatt, Hamlin, Hamling, Hamblet, Hamblin, Hambling, Hampson, Ham, and Hams (all from Lond. Dir). That Hamo was known as Ham is proved by' Hamme, son of Adcock, held twenty-nine acres of land": De Lacy Inquisition, 1311.Stolen from Fore bears

Hamlet Ashton. Lancashire Wills and Inventories (Chetham Society).

Richard fil. Hamelot. Three Lancashire Documents (Chetham Society).

Hamelet de la Burste.

Hamlet Milot, of Carrington, husbandman, 1587: Wills at Chester.

1604-5. Thomas Hamlett, Hampshire: Register of the University of Oxford.

Ellen Hamlett, of Roby, Lancashire, 1685: Wills at Chester.

1791. Married — Thomas Hamlet and Elizabeth Clark: St. George, Hanover Square.

(Anglo-French-Teut.) = Hamo(n (q.v.) + the double diminutive suff. -el-et.

In France, Hamelet is now a much less common surname than Hamelin.

The Shakespearean character came through a French channel from the Danish chronicler Saxo, surnamed Gram­maticus (ob. c. 1204), who lived in Paris and who apparently founded his story upon a 10th century Icelandic poem. Collier, in his introduction to the Hystorie of Hamblet (ed. 1875), says— ‘It was thought best to present the curious relic, as nearly as it could be done, in the shape and state in which it issued from the press quite two centuries and a half ago. For this reason it has not been considered right to make the orthography of the name of the hero uniform; some- times he is called Hamblet (as, no doubt, it stood in the first impression), and at other times Hamlet, as we have every reason to suppose it was altered in the old play, and as we find iti n Shakespeare.’ This was a translation from Belleforest’s Histoires Tragiques, where the name ap­pears as Amleth. In Saxo’s Gesta Danorum the form is Amleth with the Latin formative suffix -us. The Icelandic form is Amlóði. The name in Icelandic means ‘a fool’, as does Amlod in a modern Norwegian dialect—of course, from the simulated madness of the traditionary prince of Jutland. As Elton says (Saxo Grammaticus, Append. II. p. 408): ‘The prince was not called Amleth because he feigned stupidity; but because Amleth did so his name came to mean stupid.’ The etymology of Amlóði (O.Danish Amluthi) is obscure (although it would be easy to make guesses). Vigfusson (Addenda to Icel.Dict.) says that ‘no one knows the origin of this name’; but see Gollancz, Hamlet in Iceland, esp. p. xxxv.

(English) Descendant of little Hamo or Hamon (home).

Hamlet or Hamleth appears to have been an old Scandinavian personal name, whether the hero of Shakspeare's tragedy was a real character or only an imaginary one. If this derivation is incorrect, we can hardly fall back upon hamlet, a small village, for the origin of the surname. Grose says that it is a provincialism for a high constable.