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BARRATT
The origin of the surname is unfortunately unclear, although there are two specific possibilities which are most often considered.
The first of these is the simpler, and possibly the least likely of the two, relates to the modern word ‘beret’. Here, the surname would derive either as a nickname for someone who wore such headgear, or perhaps someone who actually made their living manufacturing these. In either case, the name would be of French origin, perhaps deriving from Old French barette, meaning a ‘cap’ or ‘bonnet’ or words synonymous to this.
The alternative to this derivation lies in the field of commerce, and this, because it has a much wider potential application, is probably the more likely origin of the word. In this explanation, the surname would derive from the Old French word barat meaning ‘commerce’ or ‘dealings’, itself a derivative of barater ‘to barter or haggle’. This meaning survives in modern French in the term baratin, meaning ‘patter’ in the business sense. Similar commercial contexts may also be found in modern Italian, where barattare means to swap, exchange or barter, and modern Spanish where the word barato has the meaning ‘cheap’.
These all suggest that the name Barratt may indicate a person somehow involved in trade, possibly in a primitive or limited form of dealing such as barter or exchange. Alternatively, it may indicate a more developed form of trading such as that of a market trader, as the Italian cognate baratta has this sense. Unfortunately though, this cannot be stated for certain as there is no actual recorded use of the word barat or similar in that sense in Middle English.
Interestingly, and perhaps not surprisingly, the same cognate barat is also used to denote the less noble aspects of trade, and the medieval Latin barratare or barattare means not only ‘to exchange’ but also ‘to deceive’. This theme and change of meaning is also seen in Middle English where bar(r)et(t)e or bar(r)at indicate ‘cheating’ or ‘deception’, or more generally ‘trouble’ or ‘strife.
Exciting though it may sound to think that our ancestors may have been named for their deceptive and roguish qualities, it seems more likely that this is a later meaning, and that the most likely origin of the surname Barratt would have been an indication of some kind of involvement in trade.
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