Sleight Family History

English (Lincolnshire and Yorkshire): nickname from Middle English sleight slet ‘wise clever skillful sly’ derived from the noun of the same form (Old Norse slœgth ‘slyness’). Compare Sly.

From Middle English sleyte ‘level field’ (Old Norse slétta). The surname may be topographic for someone who lived on or by a level field or habitational from a place so named such as Sleights in Kirkby Moorside or Sleights in Whitby (both North Yorkshire).

From Middle English sleyte ‘sheep pasture’ (Old English slæget). The surname may be topographic for someone who lived on or by a sheep pasture or habitational from a place so named such as Sleight in Corfe Mullen (Dorset).

Variant of Slight.