English
Early record reveal that this surname originated in England. It was an occupational name for some employed in the household of an Abbott, derived from the Middle English 'abbott', Old English 'abbod', reinforced by the Old French 'abe(t)', priest. Both the Old English and the Old French term are from the Late Latin, Greek, 'abbas, abbatis', priest, from the Aramaic 'aba', father. The ostensible celibacy of the clergy makes it unlikely that the surname is an occupational one for a cleric. A man usually works eight hours a day in order to make his living, sleeps and rests eight hours, and devotes the remaining eight hours to eating, minor chores and recreation, although a part of the latter may be taken up in travelling to and from work. Since man's work takes up such a large portion of his life it must be taken into consideration in any adequate system of identification; as it was for the surname Abbott. The ordinary pursuits of the Middle Ages have become some of the most common surnames in the United States. The name may also be a nickname for a sanctimonious person thought to resemble an abbott. The name dates back to the twelfth century were a Walter Abbot is recorded in historical archives. One of the first fore fathers to bring this name to America is that of a George Abbott, formerly of Yorkshire, England, who settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1637, removing in 1643 to become one of the first settlers of Andover, Massachusetts. This name is the four-hundredth and eighty-seventh most common name in America.