Halkett


Halkett is a Scottish surname of Doric English origin.
The Halkett surname originated in the Hawks Wood, Renfrewshire, Scotland; the family seat was at Pitfirrane Castle near Dunfermline.
The name is derived from 'hawk' /hɔːlk/ and 'head' /hi:d/. Being attentive to the Scots phoneme-grapheme link, the '-aw' in 'hawk' is spelt '-al', hence its morphological change from 'Haw-' to 'Hal-'. Over time, the surname evolved through auditory elision to 'head' being written as '-et'/'-ett'/'-ette'. 'Halkett' is one such variant. By extension, surname variants ending in -head/-hede/-haide/-heid remain closer to the original 'Hawks Head' spelling than 'Halkett'.
Variants of Halkett include Halket, Halkette, Halkhead, Halkhede, Halkhaide, Halkheid and Halkheide, Hackett, Hacket, and Haket.
Notable people with the surname include: