Have you read Christian names in local and family history by George Redmonds? There is a long discussion on p.65 "Hamo or Hamon(d) is another Norman name with a Germanic origin still in use in 1377-81... Hamlet is a double diminutive of this name but has no direct connection with Shakespeare's Hamlet which had an Icelandic origin. However there may be an indirect connection....Hamo and its diminutive Hamlet, had been used by the Masseys of Hale in Cheshire since the Norman Conquest... other gentry family in Cheshire and south Lancashire who used the name...
Thank you. No, not read or heard of that book but sounds intriguing. Thanks for your input - really interesting! Andy
