The surname of AVERETT was derived from the Old German EBURHARD - boar hard. The name was brought into England in the wake of the Norman Invasion of 1066, and the earliest of the name on record appears to be Ebrard and Euarduss of London who were listed as tenants in the Domesday Book of 1086. Nicholas filius Everardi of the County of Cambridgeshire in 1273. Johannes Everet of Yorkshire was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Richard Everett was documented in County Lancashire in the year 1400. The name is also spelt Everett and Everet. Later instances of the name include George Sanders Everitt who was baptised at St. James's, Clerkenwell, London in 1619. Edward Everet and Ann Walcock were married in 1666, ibid. An interesting member of the name was Edward Everett (1794-1865) the American scholar and statesman, born in Massachusetts. He graduated at Harvard in 1811 and in 1815 was elected professor of Greek there. From 1835 to 1838 he was four times governor of Massachusetts, and from 1841 until 1845 minister at the court of St. James's. He was president of Harvard, and in 1852 became secretary of state. In 1853 he was in the U.S.Senate. Family names are a fashion we have inherited from the times of the Crusades in Europe, when knights identified one another by adding their place of birth to their first or Christian names. With so many knights, this was a very practical step. In the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries the nobles and upper classes, particularly those descended from the knights of the Crusades, recognised the prestige an extra name afforded them, and added the surname to the simple name given to them at birth. It has long been a matter of doubt when the bearing of coats of arms first became hereditary and it was not until the Crusades that Heraldry came into general use. Men went into battle heavily armed and were difficult to recognise. It became the custom for them to adorn their helmets with distinctive crests, and to paint their shields with animals and the like. Coats of arms accompanied the development of surnames, becoming hereditary in the same way.