This French surname of CLERMONT was a habitation name from any of the various places so called, originally derived from the Old French elements CLAIR (bright, clear) and MONT (hill).
The name is also spelt CLARAMUNT.
Surnames derived from placenames are divided into two broad categories; topographic
names and habitation names. Topographic names are derived from general descriptive
references to someone who lived near a physical feature such as an oak tree, a hill,
a stream or a church. Habitation names are derived from pre-
Other classes of local names include those derived from the names of rivers, individual houses with signs on them, regions and whole countries. In the Middle Ages heraldry came into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used to distinguish the armoured warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed on seals as marks of identity. As far as records show, true heraldry began in the middle of the 12th century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries of Western Europe.
The associated coat of arms for the name CLERMONT are recorded in Rietstaps Armorial General, Registered in France. In the Middle Ages heraldry came into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used to distinguish the armoured warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed on seals as marks of identity.
As far as records show, true heraldry began in the middle of the 12th century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries of Western Europe. The earliest French hereditary surnames are found in the 12th century, at more or less the same time as they arose in England, but they are by no means common before the 13th century, and it was not until the 15th century that they stabilized to any great extent; before then a surname might be handed down for two or three generations, but then abandoned in favour of another.
In the south, many French surnames have come in from Italy over the centuries, and
in Northern France, Germanic influence can often be detected.