English, Scottish, and northern Irish: occupational name for a
maker of machinery, mostly in wood, of any of a wide range of kinds,
from Old English wyrhta, wryhta ‘craftsman’ (a
derivative of wyrcan ‘to work or make’). The term is found in
various combinations (for example, Cartwright and
Wainwright), but when used in isolation it generally referred
to a builder of windmills or watermills.
Common New England
Americanized form of French Le Droit, a nickname for an upright
person, a man of probity, from Old French droit ‘right’, in
which there has been confusion between the homophones right and
wright.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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