Show ContentsFauntleroy History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Fauntleroy is part of the ancient legacy of the early Norman inhabitants that arrived in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Fauntleroy was a Norman name used for a defender of the king. Less a nickname than a motto adopted as a name, Fontleroy translates roughly from the Old French as defend the king. The motto would have been rendered Defendez le Roi in French.

Early Origins of the Fauntleroy family

The surname Fauntleroy was first found in Wiltshire where they held a family seat 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.

Early History of the Fauntleroy family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Fauntleroy research. Another 78 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Fauntleroy History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Fauntleroy Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Fontleroy, Fauntleroy, Fautleroy, Fantlaroy and many more.

Early Notables of the Fauntleroy family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

  • Fontleroy of Fauntleroy's Marsh

Fauntleroy Ranking

In the United States, the name Fauntleroy is the 16,550th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1

Migration of the Fauntleroy family

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Fauntleroy name or one of its variants: James Fontleroy who settled in Boston in 1679; R. Fontleroy settled in Carolina in 1872.


Contemporary Notables of the name Fauntleroy (post 1700) +

  • Hermanze Fauntleroy, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Virginia, 1980 2
  • Henry Fauntleroy (1784-1824), English banker
  • William H Fauntleroy (b. 1814), Alamo defender born in Logan County, Kentucky
  • William Fauntleroy, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford 1509


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, March 18) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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