Shafe Surname History

Origins Available:
Ireland
Scotland

The people known in ancient Scotland as the Picts were the ancestors of the first to use Shafe as a name. It was a name for a person who shared some of the qualities attributed to a wolf. Shafe is a nickname surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. Nicknames form a broad and miscellaneous class of surnames, and can refer directly or indirectly to one's personality, physical attributes, mannerisms, or even their habits of dress. The surname Shafe is derived from the Gaelic first name Sithech, which means wolf.

Early Origins of the Shafe family

The surname Shafe was first found in Perthshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Pheairt) former county in the present day Council Area of Perth and Kinross, located in central Scotland, where the family appears to have been firmly entrenched in the Eastern coastal regions well before 1000 AD.

While some claim that the Clan originally descended from a MacDuff, one of the ancient Earls of Fife, the first official mention in documents shows them to be present at the General Council held by King Malcolm at Forfar in 1061.

However, this ancient leadership was challenged by many other Clans Commyns (Cummings) who had leased the Shaw lands of Rothiemurchus.

Early History of the Shafe family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Shafe research. Another 369 words (26 lines of text) covering the years 1178, 1226, 1405, 1411, 1527, 1550, 1602, 1608, 1625, 1672, 1692, 1751, 1774, 1776, 1799, 1804, 1826, 1832, 1849, 1876 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Shafe History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Shafe Spelling Variations

In medieval Scotland, names were more often spelled according to sound than any regular set of rules. An enormous number of spelling variations were the result. Over the years, the name Shafe has been spelled Shaw, Shawe, Mac Ghille-Sheathanaich (Gaelic) and others.

Early Notables of the Shafe family

Notable amongst the Clan at this time was Robert Shaw (died 1527), Scottish cluniac monk and prelate; William Schawe (1550-1602), Scottish architect, probably a younger son of Schaw of Sauchie; John Shawe or Shaw (1608-1672), an English puritan minister from Yorkshire...
Another 41 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Shafe Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Shafe family to Ireland

Some of the Shafe family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 123 words (9 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Shafe migration to the United States +

In such difficult times, Ireland, Australia, and North America looked like better homes for many Scots. The trips were expensive and grueling, but also rewarding, as the colonies were havens for those unwelcome in the old country. That legacy did not die easily, though, and many were forced to fight for their freedom in the American War of Independence. The Scottish legacy has resurface in more recent times, though, through Clan societies, highland games, and other organizations. Immigration and passenger lists have shown many early immigrants bearing the old Scottish name of Shafe:

Shafe Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Balser Shafe, aged 46, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1777 1

Shafe Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Leir Shafe, who landed in America in 1872 1

Citations +

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)