English
The surname 'Diamond' is of English origin. It is a variant of 'Dayman', in itself a variant of 'Day' this current form is not found before the seventeenth century, and is in part the result of folk etymology. In Jewish it has been anglicised into various Jewish surnames derived from the modern Germanic names 'Daimant', and 'Demant', or the Yiddish name 'Dime(n)t', all of which go back to the Middle High German name 'Deimant', meaning diamond (derived from the Old Flemish word 'Diamant', via the Latin from the Greek word 'Adamas', a genitive off 'Adamantos', meaning 'unconquerable' a reference to the hardness of the stone). The name is mostly ornamental, one of the many Ashkenazic surnames based on mineral names, though in some cases it may have been taken by jewellers. Public and Civil registry archive's confirm that the surname 'Diamond' and or it's variant's, date as far back as the 14th century were a 'Willelmus Dymond', from the county of Yorkshire, England, is recorded on Poll Tax records in 1379. Historical archive's have been unable to definitely determine the exact period of settlement in North America but It is believed that the forefather's of this surname were part of the exodus of migrants that followed the Treaty of Peace signed in Paris in 1763, when great Britain obtained ownership of the whole of North America east of the Missisipi River excepting New Orleans. The chief reasons causing working class people to emigrate were, poor crop yields, high unemployment, and the misconception that America was a land of golden opportunity. It is has been estimated that after 1769 some 20,000 persons a year migrated to the Americas from the British Isles.Today, 'Diamond' is the 'One thousand two hundred and eighty-fourth' most common surname in North America.