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Recorded in the spellings of Bromley, Bromiley, and Bramley this is an English locational surname. It derives from the pre 7th Century compound 'brom-leah' translating as the clearing in the broom wood. The yellow broom tree was both popular and pictorial, villages and towns called Bromley being recorded in several parts of England. The first such village recording which predates the original surname by several centuries is that of 'Bromleag' in Kent. This recording appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles of the year 862 in reference to Viking raids in the district. The village of Abbotts Bromley in Staffordshire, then Bromleage is first recorded in 1002, as part of the Abbey of Burton. Place names were adopted as an easy means of identifying 'strangers' at a time in the Middle Ages when people were beginning to migrate from their birth places. Early examples of the name recording include Sir John Bromley in the heraldic roll of King Edward 1V in 1461, John Bromley of Elstead in Kent on October 28th 1551, and Elizabeth Bromley who married Nicolas Clifton at St. Mary Abbotts, Kensington, in 1585. The name was also one of the first settler surnames into the new American Colonies. Davie Bromley, aged 15, being a passenger on the ship 'America', which left Gravesend, England, for Virginia on June 23rd 1635. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hubert de Brumle, which was dated 1194, in the Staffordshire Chartularly rolls, during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "The Lionheart, 1189 - 1199". Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Copyright: Name Orgin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2006

Web-link: Surname Genealogy Search

Recorded as de Logan, O' Logan, Logan, and Lagan, this famous Gaelic surname is confusingly both Scottish and Irish, and in both countries may also have a Norman origin! It is generally considered in Ireland to derive from the Gaelic O'Leoghain, translating as 'the son of the descendant of the Warrior', and this is probably so with many nameholders. However there is also a claim that it is recorded as 'de Logan' in Normandy, even before the 1066 Invasion of England, and that these 'de Logans' accompanied Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, on his 1170 invasion of Ireland. To further add to the confusion there are several places in Scotland called Logan, and it is possible that some of these may have Norman ancestry. Black's 'Surnames of Scotland' gives the origination of the Clan Logan as from an area known as 'The lands of Logan' in Ayrshire. Thurgand de Logyn rendered homage to the Scottish Government in 1296, whilst in 1307 John de Logan was recorded as being 'an enemy of the King of England'. The Irish O'Logans were originally the Lords of Morgallion, in County Westmeath in circa 1300. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Logan, which was dated 1204, a witness to the charter of Ingilbristoun, Scotland, during the reign of King William, known as 'The Lion of Scotland', 1165 - 1214. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Copyright: Name Orgin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2006

Web-link: Surname Genealogy Search

Roy can be found as a surname in several cultures, notably Scottish-Irish, English, French (roi), and Indian. People are often surprised by the name being used as a surname, but it is a common surname. It is the third most common surname in Quebec, Canada (French in origin) and a check of, say, the Sydney phone directory will reveal a column and a half of them, mostly not related to our family!

One of the variants of Roy is Roys and this raises speculation that Roy and Royes may be connected in some way, though it does seem that Roy is Gaelic and Royes possibly French or Spanish in origin.

The following are some web references:

Roy

1. Scottish/Gaelic: nickname for a person with red hair, from Gaelic ruadh 'red'. This is almost certainly the origin of Roy in this family tree.
2. English (of Norman origin): variant of Ray 1, cognate of 3.
3. French: from Old French rey, roy 'king' (from Latin rex, genitive regis), a nickname for someone who lived in a regal fashion or who had earned the title in some contest of skill or by presiding over festivities.
4. Indian (Bengal) and Bangladeshi: variant of Rai.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4

(Origin Gaelic) Ruadh, Roe, Roy, red-haired; also Roye, a town in England. Also Roi, French, king.

An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import
Arthur, William, M.A.; New York, NY: Sheldon, Blake, Bleeker & Co., 1857.

Roy has at least two possible national origins.

Firstly it may be Norman-French and introduced after the famous Conquest of 1066. The derivation is from the word rey or roi, meaning a king or chief, and in medieval times was used as a nickname either for one who behaved in a regal fashion, or who had earned the title in some contest of skill, or more likely had been elected "king for the day" in a local festival. It could also be used as a personal name as for example Roi de Scallebi listed in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1188.

Secondly it could be of Gaelic and Scottish origins and if so a nickname for a person with red hair, from "ruadh", meaning red. [See the explanation of Russell below!]

The creation of surnames from nicknames was a common practice in the Middle Ages, and many modern day surnames derive from medieval nicknames referring to personal characteristics. Early examples of surname recordings include Adam le Roy in the Feet of Fines of Suffolk in 1268, and Simon Roy in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire in 1279. Moritius Roy was witness in Perth during the reign of James II of Scotland, and John Roy was sheriff of Inverness (1563). A coat of arms granted to the Roy family has the blazon of a blue shield charged with a silver lion rampant, on a silver border eight red torteaux. The Motto, "Qua tendis", translates as "Whither do you steer". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Raie. This was dated 1206, in the Pipe Rolls of Cambridgeshire, during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Copyright: Name Orgin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2006

Web-links: The Roy Surname (Ancestry.com)
Surname Genealogy Search
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy

You have to wonder about web services. In the notes on Roy from SurnameDB I pointed out that someone has their gaelic Roy and Norman Royes confused. When you look up Royes on House of Names you have the reverse - Royes is said to come from Scotland! Whilst the variants for Roy and Royes include each other, it seems to me that on present knowledge our Roy name comes from Scotland via Northern Ireland and is Gaelic, and our Royes surname come from England and is possibly Norman or French-speaking Walloons (Belgium).

Royes is also a common name in Spanish, with the world's highest concentration in Spain (9.3 frequency per thousand people) along the French border (Aragon 123.72, Cataluna 26.11) compared with 0.83 in the USA (Oregon 6.12) and the UK (0.61).

One area of research open to us is:

1. Royes may be French in origin;
2. Tens of thousands of French-speaking Huguenots fled to England in the 16th-18th centuries, bringing with them various textile industries including silk (the latter notably in Canterbury and Spitalfields, London);
3. John Royes was a silk weaver;
4. John Royes married Sarah Hougham in Canterbury.

Web-link:

This is one of the most famous and noble names in British history since the Conquest of 1066, when it was a Norman introduction. The name is a diminutive patronymic and means "the son of Red", from the Old French "Rous", red, a nickname for someone with red hair, and "-el", little. In the National Biography there are over sixty entries for Russell, the Dukes of Bedford being Russells, while Charles Russell 1832 - 1900, the Lord Chief Justice of England was Baron Russell of Killowen. The third Earl Russell is better known as the philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970). On 2nd January 1634, one John Russell, aged 19 yrs., embarked from London on the ship "Bonaventure" bound for "Virginea"; he was one of the earliest recorded namebearers to enter America. In the modern idiom, the name has seven spelling variations:- Russel, Russell, Russill, Rousel(l) and Roussel(l). Over sixty Coats of Arms have been granted to bearers of this illustrious name, one of the earliest being that of the Russells of Shropshire, which depicts, on a black shield, a fess between six gold martlets. The martlet signifies one who subsists on wings of virtue and merit, having little land to rest upon. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Rousel, which was dated 1115, in the "Winton Rolls of Hampshire", during the reign of King Henry 1, known as "The Administrator", 1100 - 1135. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Copyright: Name Orgin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2006

Web-link: Surname Genealogy Search

There are many ways to spell the surnames prononced as the words wi-le and wi-ly above but, no matter how it's spelled, there can be little doubt as to the origin of the name. The word comes to us from Old Norse spoken in Britton and Scotland in the 9th and 10th centuries A.D. and was used to describe the little red dog-like animal known today as the fox. In the 10th and 11th centuries the word is found in Middle English and again used to describe the fox. In the 13th century the word "wile" or "wyle" means "crafty or sly, like a fox". There is no doubt that the word meant a fox or to be like a fox.

The first time it appears as a surname is in 1355 Scotland when Donald Wyle of Dalswinton registered his lands in Nithsdale, on the River Nith. Dalswinton was a town in the area and lies between the present day towns of Thornhill and Dumfries in Dumfrieshire in the Galloway District of the Southern Uplands of Scotland.

On August 4, 1376 the same Donald was granted Ensigns Amorial at Dumfries Abbey as "DONALD OF DALSWINTON - WYLIE OF THAT ILK". The principle charge of Donald's Arms was a fox and all Arms granted since to Wylies in Scotland have born either a walking or running fox.

Over the next few years Wylies of various spellings, presumeably descendants of Donald, appear all over Scotland and Northern England. Thomas Wyly is listed in the 1379 Yorkshire Poll Tax, John Wili is in Montrose in 1434, William Wyly appears in Ayrshire a few years later and Richard Wyly was Vicar of St. Mary's Dundee in the 1450's. The Wylies spread throughout England and Ireland for the next 200 years and then began their incredible journey to the new worlds.

Many of the Wylies in England used the spelling Wyllie and Wyley, while the Irish Wylies prefered Wiley. It is important to note that names were spelled differently every time a marriage, will or deed was recorded. Sometimes the famiies changed their names just to "fit in". Some Wylies changed their spellings to Wiley and some Wileys changed to Wylie after immigrating to America. I've found branches of my own family using Wily, Wiley, Willey and Wylie between 1788 and 1920.