This surname ARNETTE is a baptismal name 'the son of Arnold', a very popular personal name in England, practically forgotten now, which was originally brought here by the Normans during the Invasion of 1066. The earliest French hereditary surnames are found in the 12th century, at more or less the same time as they arose in England, but they are by no means common before the 13th century, and it was not until the 15th century that they stabilized to any great extent; before then a surname might be handed down for two or three generations, but then abandoned in favour of another. In the south, many French surnames have come in from Italy over the centuries, and in Northern France, Germanic influence can often be detected.There were also places of the name, a village in the parish of Riston, County York, and a parish in County Nottingham. Local names usually denoted where a man held his land, and indicated where he actually lived. Early records of the name mention Ernold Rogerus filius Ernaldi who was listed as a tenant in the Domesday Book of 1086. Stephen Arnold of the County of Kent was recorded in the year 1273. Ayelina relicta Arnette of the County of Huntingdonshire in 1273. Walter Arnald was the rector or Thelton, County Norfolk in 1409. Warin Arnold of Norwich was recorded in 1486. John Arnold and Winifred Nelham were married London in 1611. Richard Jaggard and Eedy Arnald were married at St. Antholin, London in 1616. Thomas Arnold (1795-1842) was the Headmaster of Rugby, which he raised to the rank of a great public school. Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) was an English poet and critic of distinction and the son of Thomas. The names introduced into Britain by the Normans during and in the wake of the Invasion of 1066, are nearly all territorial in origin. The followers of William the Conqueror were a pretty mixed lot, and while some of them brought the names of their castles and villages in Normandy with them, many were adventurers of different nationalities attached to William's standard by the hope of plunder, and possessing no family or territorial names of their own. Those of them who acquired lands in England were called by their manors, while others took the name of the offices they held or the military titles given to them, and sometimes, a younger son of a Norman landowner, on receiving a grant of land in his new home dropped his paternal name and adopted that of his newly acquired property.