This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Malet.'

Malet fil. Henry. C. Baldwin Malet, Somerset, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Sarra Malet, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Harvey Malet, Buckinghamshire, ibid.

Alan Malet, Derbyshire, Henry III-Edward I: Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I.

Malet Molendinarius (Malet the Miller), Jersey: 20 Edward I: Placita de Quo Warranto, temp. Edward I-III.

Magota Malet, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Yohannes Malet, 1379: ibid.

1586. Gawen Mallett, Somerset: Register of the University of Oxford.

1619. Married — Anthony Mallet and Margaret Meredeth: St. James, Clerkenwell.

(French-Latin) Naughty [French mal (Latin mal-us) +the diminutive suff. -et] Cp. Bonnett.

2 Accursed [Norm. French maleit, pp. of the verb maleir, to curse; Latin maledicere] Maleit seit oi cil aucidenz.—(Cursed be to-day that mischance) Bén., Chron. de Norm., v. 11591; Moisy.

Malet is on the mural list of “Compagnons de Guillaume à la conquête de l’Angleterre en MLXVI” in Dives (Calvados) Church; also in the copies of the Roll of Battle Abbey.

(English, French) Descendant of little Mal, a pet form of names like Malcolm, Malcull and Maldred; descendant of little Malo or Maclou, a saint of the seventh century.

A name remarkable from its having withstood the innovations of orthography and nation, from the period when modem history is lost in obscurity. Its origin is undoubtedly Teutonic; for we find it has arrived in England from two distinct sources, and is, strange to say, both Saxon and Norman. Of the former, the descendants are possibly extinct long ere this; but their name appears in the Saxon Chronicle. And whilst the family tree has flourished with hardy vigour in its native Norway, from time immemorial to the present day, its Norman branch, constituting the great and distinguished house of Malet-de-Graville, which also occupies so prominent a place in the history of England, during the XL, XII., and XIII. centuries, and retaining the principle of undecayed vitality, has added lustre to the annals of France, by the greatness and honours to which it attained, and by the benefits which its services conferred on that country, from the early days of Rollo to the end of the XVI. century; and of this, a branch also established itself in the island of Jersey, in the latter part of the reign of the Conqueror, and the name is still borne by one of the most ancient families in this "isle of long lineages," where it held a seigneurie, or lordship in capite, of the Dukes of Normandy, bearing its name. It is now represented by John Mallet, Esq., Robert Philip Mallet, Esq., and William Edmund Mallet, Esq., surviving sons of the late Rev. John Mallet, rector of his original ancestral parish of Grouville, in that island. This name is derived from the word mall, the northern noun for the ponderous iron mace, in the use of which the Norse-men were such dreaded and doughty adepts, and is most properly spelt, in accordance with its derivative, with two L's, although written frequently with one only.-Contributed by W. E. Mallet, Esq.

This name has been ascribed by some to a place so termed in Normandy, and by others to the courageous blows of the family in battle. Malleus, Maule, Mall, and Mallet was one of the offensive weapons of a well—armed warrior, being generally made of iron, and used to destroy by pounding or bruising the enemy through or under the armor, that could not be penetrated by edged or pointed weapons, Edward I. was called Malleus Scotorum. All the families of this name in England trace their descent from the renowned William Lord Mallet de Graville, one of the great barons who accompanied William the Conqueror.

Mallett is a slightly altered form of a very ancient name in Norfolk, where it has remained ever since the time of William the Conqueror, when Roger Mallet or Malet, lord of Eye in Suffolk, received an extensive grant of lands. The name of Malet was common in the adjoining county of Lincoln as well as in the distant county of Somerset in the reign of Edward I. (H. R.).