The surname Eliot, found in Ireland, England and Scotland, is derived from a Middle English personal name, Elyat, Elyt. This represents at least two Old English personal names which have fallen together: the male name A{dh}elgeat (composed of the elements a{dh}el ‘noble’ + Geat, a tribal name and the female personal name A{dh}elg¯{dh} (composed of the elements a{dh}el ‘noble’ + g¯{dh} ‘battle’).The first written reference to the name is in 1257 when William Elyot, was a  witness in the "Assize Court Rolls of Somerset." In Ireland the name is most prevalent in counties Fermanagh and Donegal.