Critchett Family History

English (Devon): nickname from an unrecorded Old French crochard, a derivative either of Old French crochu ‘bent, hooked, misshapen’ or of Old French croche ‘crook, hook, crutch’ + the pejorative suffix -ard. It may have denoted someone who was physically bent or crooked or who used a crutch.

By the early 16th century, Crochard developed to Cruchett, then to Critchett by an unrounding of the vowel that is recorded, for example, in Devon placenames.