Family name origins & meanings
- English (of Norman origin) : of uncertain origin. The most plausible suggestion is that it is a nickname for someone who was in the habit of wearing gloves, from Old French ganté, a derivative of gant ‘glove’ (see Gant) or an occupational name for a glove-maker, Old French gantier. However, a certain Hugh de Gandy was High Sheriff of Devon in 1167; it is possible that his surname is a habitational name from some unidentified place in France or even from Ghent in Flanders (see Gaunt 1).