Seeler History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Cornwall in southwestern England provides the original birthplace of the surname Seeler. As populations grew, people began to assume an extra name to avoid confusion and to further identify themselves. Unlike most Celtic peoples, who favored patronymic names, the Cornish predominantly used local surnames. This was due to the heavy political and cultural influence of the English upon the Cornish People at the time that surnames first came into use. Local surnames were derived from where a person lived, held land, or was born. While many Cornish surnames of this sort appear to be topographic surnames, which were given to people who resided near physical features such as hills, streams, churches, or types of trees, many are actually habitation surnames derived from lost or unrecorded place names. The name Seeler history began in the parish of Seal which had various locations in England including the counties of Northumberland, Leicester, Surrey and Kent.

However, the name could have originated from a variety of sources. It could be one who worked at the hall from the Old English word "sele," 1 or, perhaps, "dweller by the sallow copse" from the Old English "siele," or "sele." 2

Early Origins of the Seeler family

The surname Seeler was first found in Devon where Ralph de la Sele was listed in the Pipe Rolls of 1168. Roger Sele was also listed in the Pipe Rolls for Norfolk in 1198. 2

"The Seals of the Derby district may hail originally from Seal, a Leicestershire parish close to the Derbyshire border." 3

Today Seeler could also be a Bengali Hindu Brahmin family name which literally means "the quality of being devoted."

Early History of the Seeler family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Seeler research. Another 67 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Seeler History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Seeler 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 Seal, Seale, Seel, Sealey, Sealy, Seally, Sealley and others.

Early Notables of the Seeler family

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

Migration of the Seeler family to Ireland

Some of the Seeler family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Seeler migration to the United States +

A search of the immigration and passenger lists has shown a number of people bearing the name Seeler:

Seeler Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Henry Seeler, aged 25, who landed in New York, NY in 1847 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Seeler (post 1700) +

Uwe Seeler (1936-2022), German footballer and football official, one of the greatest players in German football history, the first football player to be awarded the Great Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Citations +

Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
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)