Show ContentsSackett History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Sackett family

The surname Sackett was first found in Worcestershire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, 1 indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086. The first on record was Saegeat who held the domains in the year 1077, before the Domesday Survey was made. The family found its roots with nobility in Bourogne.

Early History of the Sackett family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sackett research. Another 156 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1631, 1632, 1654, 1660, 1897 and 1907 are included under the topic Early Sackett History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sackett Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Sackett, Sachet, Sackitt, Sackit, Sacket and others.

Early Notables of the Sackett family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

  • the Sackett family of America

Sackett Ranking

In the United States, the name Sackett is the 7,370th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 2


United States Sackett migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Sackett or a variant listed above were:

Sackett Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Simon Sackett, who landed in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1632 3
  • John Sackett, who arrived in New England in 1660 3
Sackett Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
Sackett Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
  • Gladys Victoria Sackett, aged 22, who arrived in America from Surbitan, England in 1908 3
  • James Thomas Sackett, aged 49, who arrived in America from Portsmouth, England in 1914 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Sackett (post 1700) +

  • Susan Sackett (b. 1943), American author and screenwriter, best known for her involvement in the Star Trek franchise: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
  • Joseph F. Sackett (b. 1940), American clinical radiologist and professor of neuroradiology
  • Nathaniel Sackett (1737-1805), American spymaster appointed by George Washington to create a network of civilian spies located in New York during the American Revolution
  • Delos Bennett Sackett (1822-1885), American commander in the American Civil War and became Inspector General of the United States Army
  • Hon William Augustus Sackett (1811-1895), American politician, U.S. Representative from New York
  • John Sackett (1944-2021), American politician who served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1967 to 1971
  • Albert Monroe Sackett (1920-2016), American Naval officer, rear admiral in the United States Navy
  • Frederic Mosley Sackett (1868-1941), US Ambassador to Germany during the collapse of the Weimar Republic
  • Penny Sackett (b. 1956), Australian astronomer and Chief Scientist of Australia
  • David Lawrence Sackett OC, FRSC (1934-2015), American-born, Canadian medical doctor and a pioneer in evidence-based medicine, one of the fathers of Evidence-Based Medicine


  1. Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
  2. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  3. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)


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