Summary of these pages for English speaking friends:

(p. Ivan Ryant poskytl s laskavým svolení svůj překlad zaslaný našemu jmenovci v USA)

Welcome to pages dedicated to the Ryant (Riant, R(i)jant) family, that
originates in southern Bohemia at the Hrazanky village - to the north from
Milevsko. Matej Rygant (formerly, G has been read J, or probably Y in
english pronounciation) was born approx. 1645 in Hrazanky, and he is
supposed to be progenitor of the entire family of nowadays holders of that
surname. Nonetheless, Matej (Mathew) Rygant was originally called Hejna and
started to use his family surname Rygant as late as after 1679, when he
settled a waste goods in the neighbor village of Hrazany. Thus, his surname
Rygant is so called name after house (or goods). Generations of Ryants have
been living in the same house continually for more than 320 years.
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The page http://sweb.cz/iva_vomackova/prijmeni.htm reads:
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Surname Ryant - Riant

We have today at least two names each one - first name and surname. It was
not been like that always in the history and merely the first name has been
the primary identifier of a person for a long time. Inheritance of surname
evolved gradually, and nobility used the surname for the more precise
identification of a person first, burghers and freeholders (free peasants)
then. Invariance and inheritance has been enacted as late as in 1780, and up
to that time, one man was able to hold even several surnames in the course
of his/her life.

Origin and meaning of some surnames is realtively simple - they originated
from nicknames, after birth names, according to origin or profession of the
holder. In our case, the origin and meaning of the Ryant/Riant surname seems
to be not so evident. We have found altogether five altenatives that can be
assumed most trustworthy.
.....
1. According to D. Moldanova - the book "Nase prijmeni" ("Our surname"), it
comes from midupper German word RIANTE (12. to 16. century) as a
supplemetary form of the word RENTE - income, profit. This version is
supported by the fact that in the same time, when the surname occurs here in
Bohemia, i.e. in the period of 30-years war in the area of Orlik domain,
this domain was acquired by purchase by Eggenberks in 1623 after
confiscation of Svamberks possession. Eggenberks name comes from mediavel
upper (i.e. south) German dialect. Thus Eggenberks were uppergerman
nobility. The Czech countryside was depopulated substantially during the
30-years war, and somebody from the new possessors accompaniment or servants
might settle in the domain. Nonetheless, the name, neither its variants,
doesnt occur among 250 thousands other names in German genealogy (German
family archive), which fact contradicts the alternative of German origin.
.....
2. RIANT is participle from the French verb RIRE - to laugh, thus Riant
means laughing, or he who laughs. This alternative in conjunction with
attractiveness and rareness of the surname is also supported by a legend of
a French soldier, who during some of the wars stayed in Bohemia for unknown
reason. The legend is narrated independently in all branches of the family
and is transmitted from generation to generation. Results of the research
induce - we are an old Czech family consanguineously, that accepted its
uncommon name after goods, after its former holder. At this time, we cannot,
of course, neither confirm, nor disqualify, whether the former possessor was
a French soldier...
.....
3. The last trustworth origin of the surname may come from latine, where
RIGANT means "he who irrigates", which induces association with activity of
the subject person.
.....
4. According to Antonin Kotik's book - "Nase prijmeni" ("Our Surname"),
1895, our surname (presented here as "Ryjant") belongs to the group of names
ending with -nt, -nd suffixes, and it comes from the verb "ryje, rype"
(dig), i.e. ryjant = "rypal" (faultfinder).
.....
5. According to Josef Benes's book - "O ceskych prijmenich" ("Czech
Surnames"), 1962, our surname (presented here as "Riand, Riant, Ryant, and
Ryjant") belongs again to the group of names ending with -d, -t suffixes,
and it got derived from the stem of the name "Vale-rian".
.....
Number of holders (source: Ministery of the Interior, 1999): Ryant - men 82,
women 90; Riant - men 39, women 39; the forms Ry(i)jant are not presented,
as holders dont reach the number of 30. Variants of occurence (read G as J
(pronounce Y in English) at historical forms): nowadays - Ryant, Riant,
Ryjant, Rijant; formerly also - Rygant, Rigant, (mistaken spelling - Ryand,
Rient, Uriant, Regent)

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