This unusual and interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname deriving from either of the places called "Lipiate" in Somersetshire, or "Lypiatt" in Gloucestershire. The place in Gloucestershire is recorded as "Lippegat" in the 1220 Fees Court Rolls of the county, while the place in Somersetshire appears as "Lupiat" and "Lypiat" in the 1242 Somersetshire Pipe Rolls. Both placenames share the same unusual meaning and derivation, which is from the Old English pre 7th Century "hliepgeat", a "leapgate", which was a low gate in a fence, low enough to be jumped by horses and deer, but one that kept sheep and cattle from straying. The modern surname can be found as Lippiatt, Lippiett and Lipyeat. The marriage of John Lippiatt and Mary Ann Cam was recorded at Alderly in Gloucestershire on September 19th 1566, and one John Lippiatt was christened in London in June 1613. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger de la Lypiat, which was dated 1242, in the "Pipe Rolls of Somersetshire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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