This surname of AMIGUET is a French nickname for an amiable or good-looking person. The name was originally derived from the Old French word MIGNOT meaning 'pretty and nice'. The name is also spelt MIGNE, MIGNOT, MEUGNOT, MIGNE, MIGNON, AMIGNOTON and AMIGNONNEAU. Surnames having a derivation from nicknames form the broadest and most miscellaneous class of surnames, encompassing many different types of origin. The most typical classes refer adjectivally to the general physical aspect of the person concerned, or to his character. Many nicknames refer to a man's size or height, while others make reference to a favoured article of clothing or style of dress. Many surnames derived from the names of animals and birds. In the Middle Ages ideas were held about the characters of other living creatures, based on observation, and these associations were reflected and reinforced by large bodies of folk tales featuring animals behaving as humans. French, or rather Norman French, was the language of the aristocracy and the upper classes in England at the time fixed surnames were being developed, it is therefore not surprising that many of our well-known family names are derived from French words. Originally only Christian or personal names were used, and although a few came into being during the 10th century, surnames were not widely used until much later, when people began to realize the prestige of having a second name. A notable member of the name was Jacques Paul MIGNE (1800-75) the French churchman and writer, born in St. Flour. He was ordained in 1824. A disagreement with his bishop drove him to Paris in 1833, where he started the Catholic 'L'Univers'. In 1838 he sold the paper and soon after set up a great publishing house near Paris. The archbishop of Paris, thinking that the undertaking had become a commercial speculation, forbade it to continue, and when MIGNE resisted, suspended him. A great fire, put an end to the work in 1868. In the Middle Ages heraldry came into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used to distinguish the armoured warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed on seals as marks of identity. As far as records show, true heraldry began in the middle of the 12th century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries of Western Europe.