Atekant is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Atekant family once lived the personal name Adam. Atekant is a diminutive which means son of Adam.
The surname Atekant was first found in Westmorland and Northumberland where they held a family seat from ancient times, before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Atekant research. Another 92 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1191, 1296, 1379, 1621, 1559, 1581, 1558, 1635, 1558, 1601, 1681, 1626, 1685, 1662, 1615, 1677, 1587, 1669, 1630, 1698, 1686, 1689, 1647, 1711, 1610, 1703, 1665, 1670, 1674 and 1680 are included under the topic Early Atekant History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Atekant family name include Adkin, Atkin, Atkins, Adekin, Adekyns, Adekyn, Adkins and many more.
Distinguished members of the family include Richard Atkins (1559?-1581), English martyr, born at Ross in Herefordshire; Henry Atkins (1558-1635), English physician, born in 1558, son of Richard Atkins of Great Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire; William Atkins (1601-1681), an English Jesuit; Robert Adkins (1626-1685), English ejected minister of 1662 from Chard, Somerset; Richard Atkyns (1615-1677), an English writer and printer from Gloucestershire; Sir Edward Atkyns...
Another 62 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Atekant Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Some of the Atekant family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 43 words (3 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Atekant surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Sir Jonathon Atkins who was Governor of Barbados in 1663; Henry Atkins settled in Plymouth in 1641; Thomas Adkins settled in East Hartford in 1682.