The English surname Merrit is an habitational name from Merriott in Somerset, named in Old English as “boundary gate, or mare gate,” from (ge)mre meaning “boundary” or miere meaning “mare” and  geat meaning “gate.” The first record of the family name dates to the 11th Century when  Hardinus de Meriet is recorded in the Geld Roll of the county of Somerset in 1084. An early record of the name in the New World occurs in 1648 when Nicholas Merritt arrived in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Today there are approximately 600 bearers of the name Merrit living in the US.