Show ContentsStiel Surname History

The name Stiel is part of the ancient legacy of the early Norman inhabitants that arrived in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Stiel was a Norman name used for a person who was strong or reliable. The surname Steele is a metaphor likening the constitution of its bearer to the hard metal of the same name.

Early Origins of the Stiel family

The surname Stiel was first found in Cheshire where they held a family seat from very early times where they were Lords of the manor of Giddy Hall near Sandbach, 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.

They were conjecturally descended from Bigot de Loges, a Norman noble who attended King William at the Battle of Hastings. However, William the Conqueror suppressing an uprising by his northern nobles in 1070, laid waste all of Sandbach, a large district in Cheshire, and the family moved north to Scotland.

Early History of the Stiel family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Stiel research. Another 87 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1259, 1524, 1610, 1616, 1629, 1637, 1643, 1662, 1672, 1680, 1692, 1697, 1729 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Stiel History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Stiel 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 Steele, Steill, Steel, Steal and others.

Early Notables of the Stiel family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was William Steele (1610-1680), English lawyer and politician from Sandbach, Cheshire, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, grandfather of Sir Richard Steele of Dublin; Thomas Steele (d. 1643), who was shot for surrendering Beeston Castle in the Civil War; and Laurence Steele (bap...
Another 47 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Stiel Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ireland Migration of the Stiel family to Ireland

Some of the Stiel family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 98 words (7 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Stiel migration to the United States +

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 Stiel name or one of its variants:

Stiel Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Christ Stiel, who arrived in Texas in 1845 1

Contemporary Notables of the name Stiel (post 1700) +

  • David Stiel, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Louisiana, 1964 2


  1. 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)
  2. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 18) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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