Cager History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Cager is Anglo-Saxon in origin. It was a name given to a jailer, or prison guard; people who had been prisoners. The word cage means prison, and denoted one who either worked there or was incarcerated there. If applied to a jailer, the name is occupational in nature meaning worker at the prison. If applied to a former inmate, it is a nickname.

Early Origins of the Cager family

The surname Cager was first found in Cambridgeshire where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Cager family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cager research. Another 51 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cager History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cager Spelling Variations

Until the dictionary, an invention of only the last few hundred years, the English language lacked any comprehensive system of spelling rules. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents. One person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. The recorded variations of Cager include Cage, Cadger, Cadge and others.

Early Notables of the Cager family

More information is included under the topic Early Cager Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cager migration to the United States +

Thousands of English families boarded ships sailing to the New World in the hope of escaping the unrest found in England at this time. Although the search for opportunity and freedom from persecution abroad took the lives of many because of the cramped conditions and unsanitary nature of the vessels, the opportunity perceived in the growing colonies of North America beckoned. Many of the settlers who survived the journey went on to make important contributions to the transplanted cultures of their adopted countries. The Cager were among these contributors, for they have been located in early North American records:

Cager Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Tho Cager, who landed in Virginia in 1642 1

Contemporary Notables of the name Cager (post 1700) +

Willie Cager (d. 2023), American college basketball player for the Texas Western Miners in 1966

Citations +

Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)