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Coady History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Coady History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The Coady history begins in Cornwall, a rugged coastal region in southwestern England. Quite distinct from Devon, the adjoining county, Cornwall had its own spoken language until the late 18th century. The Coady history began here. The manner in which hereditary surnames arose is interesting. Local surnames were derived from where the original bearer lived, was born, or held land. Unlike most Celtic peoples, who favored patronymic names, the Cornish predominantly used local surnames. The Coady family originally lived in the village of Coad in Cornwall.

Early Origins of the Coady family

The surname Coady was first found in Cornwall where they held a family seat from very ancient times. This ancient Cornish name settled in early times in Gidley Castle in Cornwall, a grant from the early Celtic Kings. The family name also had branches in St. Austel and Morval. The Castle, which is a square fort with three towers, is used by the family name as a Crest on their Coat of Arms.

Further to the north in Yorkshire, Geoffrey Codi was found in the Curia Regis Rolls for 1210; Stephen Cody in the Subsidy Rolls for 1297; and Roger Cody in the Assize Rolls for 1364. 1

Early History of the Coady family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Coady research. Another 103 words (7 lines of text) covering the year 1275 is included under the topic Early Coady History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Coady Spelling Variations

Cornish surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. The frequent changes in surnames are due to the fact that the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules. The official court languages, which were Latin and French, were also influential on the spelling of a surname. Since the spelling of surnames was rarely consistent in medieval times, and scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings of their surname in the ancient chronicles. Moreover, a large number of foreign names were brought into England, which accelerated and accentuated the alterations to the spelling of various surnames. Lastly, spelling variations often resulted from the linguistic differences between the people of Cornwall and the rest of England. The Cornish spoke a unique Brythonic Celtic language which was first recorded in written documents during the 10th century. However, they became increasingly Anglicized, and Cornish became extinct as a spoken language in 1777, although it has been revived by Cornish patriots in the modern era. The name has been spelled Coady, Cody, Coadie, Code, Codde and others.

Early Notables of the Coady family

Notable amongst the family at this time was

Coady of Gidley Castle

Coady Ranking

In the United States, the name Coady is the 15,228^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2 However, in Newfoundland, Canada, the name Coady is ranked the 174^th most popular surname with an estimated 230 people with that name. 3

Migration of the Coady family to Ireland

Some of the Coady family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 40 words (3 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Coady migration to the United States +

Early records show that people bearing the name Coady arrived in North America quite early:

Coady Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Thomas Coady, who settled in Boston Massachusetts in 1768
Thomas Coady, who landed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1768 4

Coady Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Thomas Coady, who settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1850
J Coady, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 4
Mary Coady, aged 30, who arrived in New York, NY in 1872 4

Coady migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Coady Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. John Coady, (Cody, Coudy, Coody), (b. 1803), aged 17, Irish servant who was convicted in Dublin, Ireland for 7 years for felony, transported aboard the "Dorothy" on 5th May 1820, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 5
Mr. James Coady (Coddy), (b. 1809), aged 30, Cornish tailor travelling aboard the ship "Orient" arriving in New South Wales, Australia on 4th April 1839 6
Mrs. Eliza Coady (Coddy), (b. 1814), aged 24, Cornish servant travelling aboard the ship "Orient" arriving in New South Wales, Australia on 4th April 1839 6
Miss Emma Coady (Coddy), (b. 1835), aged 3, Cornish settler travelling aboard the ship "Orient" arriving in New South Wales, Australia on 4th April 1839 6

Contemporary Notables of the name Coady (post 1700) +

Charles Pearce Coady (1868-1934), American Democratic Party politician, Member of Maryland State Senate, 1908-12; U.S. Representative from Maryland 3rd District, 1913-21 7
Richard Joseph Coady IV (b. 1976), former American NFL football safety
Edmund "Ed" H. Coady (b. 1867), American football starting quarterback for the University of Notre Dame
Charles Pearce Coady (1868-1934), American politician, U.S. Representative from the third district of Maryland
Michael Coady (1939-2024), Irish poet, writer, historian, photographer, genealogist, and journalist
Tess Coady (b. 2000), Australian snowboarder who competes internationally, bronze medalist in the slopestyle event at the 2022 Winter Olympics
Siobhán Coady (b. 1960), Canadian businesswoman and politician from Newfoundland and Labrador
Rev. Dr. Moses Michael Coady (1882-1959), Canadian Roman Catholic priest, adult educator and co-operative entrepreneur
Lynn Coady (b. 1970), Canadian novelist and journalist
John Coady (b. 1960), former Irish footballer
... (Another 1 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Coady family +

Halifax Explosion

Master Edward Coady (1916-1917), Canadian resident from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada who died in the Halifax Explosion (1917) 8

HMS Royal Oak

John Coady, British Leading Stoker with the Royal Navy aboard the HMS Royal Oak (1939) when she was torpedoed by U-47 and sunk; he survived the sinking 9

RMS Lusitania

Mr. James Coady, Irish Fireman from Wexford, Ireland, who worked aboard the RMS Lusitania (1915) and died in the sinking and was recovered 10

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
The order of Common Surnames in 1955 in Newfoundland retrieved on 20th October 2021 (retrieved from Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland by E.R. Seary corrected edition ISBN 0-7735-1782-0)
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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 12th July 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/dorothy
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 3rd May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_bounty_nsw.pdf
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2017, April 12) Charles Coady. Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Halifax Explosion Book of Remembrance | Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. (Retrieved 2014, June 23) . Retrieved from https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/what-see-do/halifax-explosion/halifax-explosion-book-remembrance
Ships hit by U-boats crew list HMS Royal Oak (08) - (Retrieved 2018 February, 9th) - retrieved from https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship68.html
Lusitania Passenger List - The Lusitania Resource. (Retrieved 2014, March 6) . Retrieved from http://www.rmslusitania.info/lusitania-passenger-list/