Daily AncestorGent.
Gent. after a name means gentleman, a mark of social standing used for a man of some property and position.
Gent. is short for gentleman. In English and colonial American records it was a social label placed after a name, as in Benj. Ross, Gent. It implied a man of some rank, above a yeoman and below an esquire.
It is a clue to status, not a job, and the label was applied loosely, especially in the colonies. Look at land records and office lists to see what the man actually owned or did.
As seen in a recordGrantor line of a colonial deed
Benj. Ross of Essex County, Gent., to Jno. Hart
Sources
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Daily Ancestor. "Gent.." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/abbreviations/gent. Last checked 2026-10-01.