Show ContentsPingley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Pingley Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Etymology of Pingley

What does the name Pingley mean?

Behind the name Pingley is a story that begins in the ancient Scottish-English border region among the clans of the Boernician tribe. The Pingley family lived in a place near Stow Roxburghshire, called Hopringle or Pringle. As such, Pingley is a habitation name, a category of surnames that were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. The place name comes from the Old English word hop which referred to an "enclosed valley," and Prjónn, an Old Norse name comprised of components which mean peg and ravine. Thus, the original bearer of the surname came from an area noted for an enclosed valley or a ravine.

However some sources presume the name to be derived from "pilgrim," as "they bear in their arms the escallop shells or badges of pilgrims to the Holy Land." 1 2

Pingley Coat of Arms Creation

In the works of Sir George Mackenzie, Vol. II., p. 611, it is said that Pringle of Galashiels had five golden escallops (the bi-valve scallop) in his shield, and this shell was usually worn by those who were pilgrims. Nisbet's Heraldry, published in Edinburgh in 1722, says that the first ancestor of the Pringles is said to be Pelerin, a famous pilgrim to the Holy Land, who came to Scotland, and his descendants were first called Pilgrims, and afterwards, by corruption, Pringle.

The oldest family of the name is " Hop Pringle of that ilk," whose crest was a scallop, and the motto, " Amicitia reddit honores " (Friendship gives honours). King David Bruce gave the lands belonging to Walter de Pringle, forfeited, to William Pitilock Miles.

One branch of the Pringles had as crest a man's heart with wings; motto, " Sursum (Upward). Another, an anchor within a garland of bay leaves; motto, " Semper spero meliora " (I always hope for better things).

Every branch of the Pringles has scallop shells in its shield. 3

Early Origins of the Pingley family

The surname Pingley was first found in Roxburghshire, where the first Chief on record was Robert de Hoppryngil who witnessed a deed by King Alexander III of Scotland in 1250 A.D. Forty-six years later, Ellys Obringkel was Bishop of St. Andrews, and rendered homage to King Edward I of England on his brief conquest of Scotland in 1296. His seal bore a hunting horn. About this time they acquired the Clan territories near Stow and they became close allies of the Black Douglases. 4

"The little silver coin called a pringle, formerly minted in Scotland, and of about the value of an English penny, may have derived its name from one of this family." 5

Early History of the Pingley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pingley research. Another 427 words (30 lines of text) covering the years 1200, 1368, 1406, 1450, 1455, 1485, 1513, 1568, 1580, 1625, 1626, 1628, 1631, 1664, 1667, 1689, 1736 and 1976 are included under the topic Early Pingley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pingley Spelling Variations

Before the printing press and the first dictionaries appeared, names and other words were often spelled differently every time they were written. Pingley has appeared under the variations Pringle, Pringell, Prindle, Hopringle and others.

Early Notables of the Pingley family

George Pringle (1631-1689), of Torwoodlee, eldest son of James Pringle of Torwoodlee. The Pringles of Torwoodlee, Selkirkshire, are descended from the Pringles of Snailholm, Roxburghshire, the first of the name being George, son of William Pringle of Snailholm who was killed at Flodden in 1513. This George Pringle was murdered in his own house by a party of Liddesdale reivers in 1568. 6 Walter Pringle (1625-1667), of Greenknowe, Berwickshire, Scottish Covenanter, was the third son of Robert Pringle, first of Stitchel, Roxburghshire. The Pringles of Stitchel were descended from the Hop Pringles of Craiglatch and Newhall, Selkirkshire, a younger branch of the...
Another 124 words (9 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Pingley Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Pingley family to Ireland

Some of the Pingley family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 35 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pingley migration to the United States +

The Scots who crossed the Atlantic were often on the run from poverty as well as persecution. They brought little with them, and often had nothing of their home country to hand down to their children. In the 20th century, Clan societies and other patriotic Scottish organizations have helped the ancestors of Boernician Scots to recover their lost national legacy. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Pingley were among those contributors:

Pingley Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Hans Michael Pingley, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1735 7
  1. Sims, Clifford Stanley The Origin and Signification of Scottish Surnames. 1862. Print.
  2. Dixon, Bernard Homer, Surnames. London: John Wilson and son, 1857. Print
  3. Polson, Alexander, The Romance of Scottish Crests and Mottoes. Inverness: Walter Alexander, Inglis Street 1929. Print
  4. Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
  5. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  6. Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
  7. 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)

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