Coats of Armour and Origin of Su

Coats of Armour and Origin of Surnames

The relevance of surnames in genealogy (As quoted by Society of Genealogists Information)

Unfortunately only a very small number of pedigrees of British families can be traced to the person who first used the surnames they now bear. Many surnames have been corrupted to such an extent that their original forms may only be discovered after quite considerable research. This may involve tracing the pedigree step by step from the present backwards in time, not only to detect the changes but also to discover the area of the country from which the family came. Present day forms of a large number of surnames are due to the spelling of 16th or 17th century parsons, or even to the registrars of births in the 19th century. They had no guide to the spellings of names and attempted to reproduce phonetically the sounds they heard, as the great majority of the population were illiterate and had no notion that any one spelling of their name was more 'correct' than any other.

All our original ancestors used a one-part name, whether they were Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians or Normans. Certain people before the Norman conquest, and in growing numbers afterwards, had an additional 'byname', but these were not hereditary surnames in the modern sense as they did not pass from father to son. Such names may appear in Domesday Book, but they have no relevance here. It was not until the early 12th century that surnames became hereditary among the nobility. They spread gradually amongst the ordinary people in the next century, from the town to the country and from the south of England to the north. Most people in England did not, however, have anything approaching an hereditary surname until the end of the 14th century.







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The following descriptions have been quoted from 1800 Word Histories.

ACKERLEY - Origin Displayed: English

Spelling variations of this family name include: Ackerly, Ackerley, Acerly, Akeley, Acle, Ackle, Acley, Acly and many more.

First found in Buckinghamshire, where they were seated from ancient times.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Henry Ackley, who sailed to New Haven, Connecticut in 1640, Nicholas Ackley sailed to Connecticut in 1655 and Joseph Ackerly to Philadelphia in 1865.

ALLEN -

Spelling variations of this family name include: Alan, Allan, Allen, Alleyn, Allayne, Allaine, Allain, Allanach, Allanshaw, MacAllan and many more.

First found in the lands of Shropshire, where Walter FitzAlan of Brittany was seated after the Norman Conquest of 1066.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: John Allan, who settled in Virginia in 1622; Anne Allen, who arrived in Boston in 1635; John Allan, who immigrated to Virginia in 1685; as did Alice Allen in 1689.

(O)BEGLEY MacCREADY - Irish

Spelling variations of this family name include: Begley, Beegley, Beeghley, Begly, Begeley, Begely, Beagley and many more.

First found in the counties of Cork and Donegal where they held considerable territories as an important Irish sept directly descended from the line of the Heber Irish Kings.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Charles Begley who arrived in Philadelphia Pa. in 1855; Christopher Begley arrived there in 1854; Edward Begley in 1869; Henry Begley in 1856; James in 1865.

Ó Beaglaoich anglicized O'Begley, now Begley and occasionally Bagley, is the name of a Donegal sept located in the barony of Kilmacrenan. Its present day representatives are still to be found there. The place-name Tulloghobegley, a parish in the barony of Kilmacrenan, perpetuates their association with that area. References to Tulloghobegley occur in the Raphoe diocesan records, though the erenagh family there was not O'Begley but MacCready, a well known Ulster surname now plentiful in the three north-eastern counties. From this crenagh family was Father Donogh MacReidy (also called MacCreedy), of Coleraine, Dean of Derry, who in 1608 suffered martyrdom by being pulled asunder by four horses. Monsignor Charles MacCready, Rector of the Church of the Holy Cross, New York, a century ago, was of the same family. In Irish the name is Mac Riada. The name Begley now almost as numerous in Munster as in Ulster. One of its principal modern locations is Co. Kerry: the 1911 census figures record 37 Begley families there. The O'Begleys of Munster are a branch of the Donegal sept; the first of them went to Co. Cork with the MacSweeneys as galloglasses at the end of the fifteenth century. Conor Begley collaborated in the production of Hugh MacCurtin's English-Irish Dictionary, which was printed in Paris in 1732. The Abbé Thadé Begley, was largely responsible for the publication of that work.. In our own time John Canon Begley was the author of The History of the Diocese of Limerick, a work in 3 volumes of much value for secular as well as ecclesiastical history. Henry Begley (d.1895), of Limerick, was a landscape painter of note.

(O) CRONIN - Originally Irish Gaelic

Spelling variations of this family name include: Cronin, Cronyn, Cronine, Croynin, Cronan, Cronnin, Cronnan, Cronnyn, Cronen, O'Cronin, Croynan and many more.

First found in county Cork where they were seated from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Johannes Cronin who settled in Philadelphia in 1738; followed by James Cronin in 1787; Charles, Cornelius, Daniel, Edward, Eugene, James, John, Michael, Patrick, Thomas, William Cronin, all settled in Philadelphia Pa. between 1817 and 1868.

The prefix 0 is seldom retained today. It is one of our most numerous surnames. The great majority of people called Cronin belong to west Munster, especially Co. Cork. In 1659 it was recorded as a principal name in Co. Limerick (barony of Connello) and Co. Kerry (barony of Magunihy) and in two baronies of Co. Cork. The sept of Ó Cróinín is one of the Corca Laoidhe. The name is derived from the word crón, (saffron-coloured). A prominent family of O'Cronin were erenaghs of a church near Gougane Barra. Of 176 births registered in 1890, 161 were in Munster, of these 102 were in Co. Cork and 42 in Co. Kerry. In the 1901 census there were 261 householders called Croinin in Co. Kerry. Croneen was formerly a common spelling of the name: it is met in the place-name Ballycroneen in east Cork which Joyce makes Croneen's town, but also said to commemorate St. Cronin. Father Donogh O'Cronin, teacher of O'Sullivan Beare, was hung in Cork in 1601. Rev. Patrick Cronin (1835-1905), the Irish-American poet-priest, was born at Adare.

GODFREY -

English - Spelling variations of this family name include: Godfrey, Godfry, Godfrie, Godfree, Godfery, Godkin and many more.

First found in Kent where they were seated from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Andrew Godfrey who settled in the Barbados in 1678; Hugh Godfrey who settled in the Barbados in 1663; Edward Godfrey who settled in Maine in 1630; Richard Godfrey who settled in Virginia in 1652.

Irish - Spelling variations of this family name include: Gohery, Geoghery, Gohary, Godfry, Godfrey and many more.

First found in the district between Portumna and Birr, in present day County Offaly and north County Tipperary.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Cormac Godfrey, who arrived in Massachusetts in 1820; Ann and John Godfrey, who immigrated to Quebec in 1834; John Godfery, who landed in New York in 1852.

HARDY - Scottish & French

Spelling variations of this family name include: Hardy, Hardie, Hardey, MacHardy and others.

First found in Lanarkshire where they were seated from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Elizabeth Hardey settled in Rappahannock Virginia in 1725; Robert Hardey settled in Maryland in 1774; John Hardy settled in Salem in 1630; Thomas Hardy settled in Virginia in 1642.

HENDERSON -

MASON - English, French, Italy

English - Spelling variations of this family name include: Mason, Masson and others.

First found in Kent on the Isle of Thanet where they were seated from very early times and were granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege Lord, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Anne Mason who settled in Virginia in 1635; also: Charles in 1637; Edward in 1648; Francis in 1613; Henry in 1646; John in 1622; Marmaduke in 1774; Mary in 1623.

PARRY - Origin: Welsh

Spelling variations of this family name include: Parry, Parrey, Parrie and others.

First found in Carnarvonshire where they were seated from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Anne Parry settled in Virginia with her husband in 1637; along with Anthony in 1653; Davey in 1663; Edmund 1654; Elizabeth 1654; Henry 1663; Hugh 1663.

Roche, (Rochfort) - French

Spelling variations of this family name include: Roche, Roach, Roache, LaRoche, LaRoach, DeLaRoach, Roack, Roch, Roiche, St.Roche, Rocheland, Rochellan and many more.

First found in county Limerick where they were granted lands by Strongbow whom they accompanied into Ireland during the Anglo-Norman invasion of 1172.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: William Roach settled in Virginia in 1707; Edmund, Frederick, James, John, Margaret, Mary, Michael, Patrick, Richard, Thomas and William Roach all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1870.

Although Roche is not an indigenous Gaelic Irish surname it can nevertheless be regarded as exclusively Irish to-day, being found in England only in Irish, and more rarely French, emigrant families. It is French in origin - de la roche (of the rock) - and came to Ireland at the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion in the twelfth century. Like Barry, Burke, Power and Walsh, which are in the same category it became one of the commonest names in Ireland, especially in Munster and Wexford, where most of the original Roche settlers were located. They are particularly associated with Co. Cork on account of the predominance of a powerful family of Roches in the neighbourhood of Fermoy where a large area of territory was long known as Roche's Country. The head of this family is Baron Fermoy. Roche of Rochesland is listed as one of the principal gentlemen of Co. Wexford in the sixteenth century. In the Irish language the name is de Roiste. The place-name Rochestown occurs six times in Co. Wexford, twice each in Counties Cork and Kilkenny and once each in Counties Limerick, Tipperary, Kildare, Meath, Westmeath and Dublin; in the last named there is also a Rocheshill. Roche's Street in Limerick commemorates the particular association of the family with that city. Two Roches are especially well remembered. Father Philip Roche of Co. Wexford, hanged for his prominent part in the 1798 Rebellion - in which one Edward Roche also participated with distinction - and Sir Boyle Roche (1743-1807), famous for his wit and "bulls". Several were noted in their days as writers. One of these James Jeffry Roche 91847-1908), the poet, when to the United States and became American minister to Switzerland; another James Roche (1770-1853), author of Essays of an Octogenarian, had a varied and interesting career in business and politics in Paris, Bordeaux and Cork. In the mediaeval period the name was often written de Rupe (Latin rupes, a rock). In the same way de Rupefort is equivalent to Rochfort, the name of a Hiberno-Norman family whose long association with Co. Westmeath is perpetuated in the village of Rochfortbridge.

SMITH - 5 Origins Dutch, German, English, Irish, Scottish

SNAPE - Origin: English

Spelling variations of this family name include: Snape, Snappe, Snepe, Snapes and others.

First found in Oxfordshire where they were seated from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: John Snape settled in St. Christopher in 1635; William Snapes settled in Virginia in 1653; Barbara, Lawrence, and John Snapp, arrived in Philadelphia in 1733.

WARDLE - Origin: English

Spelling variations of this family name include: Wardle, Wardell and others.

First found in Cheshire where they held a family seat from ancient times, about the time of the Conquest.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Christopher Wardle who settled in the Barbados in 1679 with his servants; William Wardle arrived in Pennsylvania in 1685; Thomas Wardle arrived in Philadelphia in 1818.