Rawls History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The Rawls surname is a patronymic from a medieval form of the personal name Ralph.

Early Origins of the Rawls family

The surname Rawls was first found in Cornwall where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Kennet and Trevil in St.Juliet. "The manor called Tresparvet [in the parish of St. Ives] belongs to William Rawle, Esq. in whose family it has been vested for many generations. The manor of Tremorvill or Tremorill, which belonged to the Bottreaux family so early as the reign of Edward I. is the property of Mr. Rawle." 1

Early History of the Rawls family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Rawls research. Another 168 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1400, 1632, 1658, 1660, 1683, 1686 and 1727 are included under the topic Early Rawls History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Rawls 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 Rawle, Rawles, Rorles, Ralls, Rall and others.

Early Notables of the Rawls family

Notable amongst the family at this time was Francis Rawle (1660-1727), Cornish colonist, born in England, son of Francis Rawle, and came of an old Cornish family of some wealth and standing, settled at one time near St. Juliot, and later in the neighbourhood of Plymouth. "Both father and son were Quakers, and were persecuted...
Another 54 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Rawls Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Rawls Ranking

In the United States, the name Rawls is the 3,102^nd most popular surname with an estimated 9,948 people with that name. 2

Rawls migration to the United States +

An examination into the immigration and passenger lists has discovered a number of people bearing the name Rawls:

Rawls Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

J J Rawls, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Rawls (post 1700) +

Elizabeth Earle "Betsy" Rawls (b. 1928), American LPGA professional golfer, winner of eight golf majors
Elizabeth Earle Rawls (1928-2023), American LPGA Tour professional golfer, won eight major Championships
S. W. Rawls, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Virginia, 1944 4
Robert M. Rawls, American Democratic Party politician, Chair of Greene County Democratic Party, 1943 4
Riseup Rawls, American politician, Member of North Carolina House of Commons from Gates County, 1829 4
Nancy Vivian Rawls (1926-1985), American politician, U.S. Ambassador to Togo, 1974-76; Ivory Coast, 1979-83 4
Morgan Rawls (1829-1906), American Democratic Party politician, Member of Georgia State Legislature; U.S. Representative from Georgia 1st District, 1873-74 4
J. Lewis Rawls Jr., American Democratic Party politician, Member of Virginia State Senate 15th District, 1976-79 4
Benjamin Franklin Rawls (b. 1812), American Democratic Party politician, Postmaster at Columbia, South Carolina, 1845-48 4
Benjamin Rawls (1772-1866), American Democratic Party politician, Postmaster at Columbia, South Carolina, 1835-41 4
... (Another 4 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Rawls family +

Arrow Air Flight 1285

Mr. David L Rawls (1965-1985), American Private 1st Class from Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA who died in the Arrow Air Flight 1285 crash 5

Citations +

Hutchins, Fortescue, The History of Cornwall, from the Earliest Records and Traditions to the Present Time. London: William Penaluna, 1824. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 28) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
American War Memorials - Flight 1285. (Retrieved 2016, August 24) . Retrieved from http://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=317&MemID=550