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Carn History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Carn History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Wales

The surname Carn is derived from the Welsh word "karn," which means "a pile of stones," such as was often used to mark a burial site. The forebears that initially bore the name Carn likely lived by a notable heap of stones.

There may be a ancient Norman connection to the name as the Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae notes "Robert and Geoffry le Caron, Normandy, 1180-95." 1

Early Origins of the Carn family

The surname Carn was first found in Glamorganshire (Welsh: Sir Forgannwg), a region of South Wales, anciently part of the Welsh kingdom of Glywysing, where the "family claim descent from Ithel, King of Ghent, now Monmouthshire. Thomas o'r Gare, youngest son of Ithel, King of Ghent, was brought up at one of his father's seats called Pencarne (from pen, the head, and carne, a rock, a heap of stones), whence he was named Game, which continues the surname of the family." 2 3

Early History of the Carn family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Carn research. Another 117 words (8 lines of text) covering the year 1561 is included under the topic Early Carn History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Carn Spelling Variations

The Welsh have an extremely large amount of spelling variations of their native surnames to their credit. As time progressed, the old Brythonic names of Wales were recorded in English, which was especially problematic since the English language had extreme difficulty recording the highly inflected sounds of Cymraeg. Spelling variations were, however, also carried out according to an individual's design: a branch loyalty within the family, a religious adherence, or even patriotic affiliations could be indicated by spelling variations of one's name. The spelling variations of the name Carn have included Carn, Carne and others.

Early Notables of the Carn family

Prominent amongst the family during the late Middle Ages was

Sir Edward Carne (d. 1561), Welsh diplomatist, "son of Howell Carne of Cowbridge in Glamorganshire, by his wife Cicely, daughter of William Kemys of Newport, and was lineally descended from Thomas Le...

Carn Ranking

In the United States, the name Carn is the 18,776^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 4 However, in France, the name Carn is ranked the 7,638^th most popular surname with an estimated 1,000 - 1,500 people with that name. 5

Carn migration to the United States +

North America in the 1800s and 1900s saw the arrival of many Welsh people hoping to share in the wealth of land, work, and freedom that they felt North America held. Those who made the journey often attained those expectations, but only through an enormous amount of hard work, perseverance, and often a bout of good luck. These immigrants helped contribute to the growth of industry, commerce, and culture of both Canada and the United States. Discovered in the immigration and passenger lists were a number of people bearing the name Carn:

Carn Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Antho Carn, who arrived in Virginia in 1714 6
Nicholas Carn, aged 39, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1732 6
Nicolaus Carn, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1732 6
Nicholas Carn, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1739
Adam Carn, aged 26, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1741 6

Carn Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Thomas Carn, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1812 6
M B Carn, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 6
William Carn, aged 38, who landed in New York in 1854 6

Carn migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Carn Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Joseph Carn, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Aden" in 1849 7
Miss Emma Carn, (b. 1837), aged 12, Cornish settler from St. Stephens, Cornwall, UK travelling aboard the ship "Royal George" arriving in New South Wales, Australia on 28th November 1849 8
Miss Emma Carn, (b. 1837), aged 12, Cornish settler from St. Stephens, Cornwall, UK departing from Plymouth on 17th August 1849 aboard the ship "Royal George" arriving in Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia on 28th November 1849 9
Mr. John Carn, (b. 1822), aged 35, Cornish labourer departing from Plymouth on 13th November 1856 aboard the ship "Mary Ann" arriving in Portland, Victoria, Australia on 28th January 1857 10
Mrs. Elizabeth Carn, (b. 1828), aged 29, Cornish settler departing from Plymouth on 13th November 1856 aboard the ship "Mary Ann" arriving in Portland, Victoria, Australia on 28th January 1857 10
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Carn migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 11

Carn Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

John Carn, who settled in Barbados in 1678 with his wife and children

Historic Events for the Carn family +

HMS Hood

Mr. George H K Carn (b. 1901), English Chief Yeoman of Signals serving for the Royal Navy from Chichester, Sussex, England, who sailed into battle and died in the HMS Hood sinking 12

Citations +

The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Arthur, William , An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. London: 1857. Print
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
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)
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) Aden from London via Plymouth Adealide Arriving September 12th 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849AdenRegister.htm
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 2018, May 30). Ships' Passenger Lists of Arrivals in New South Wales on (1828 - 1842, 1848 - 1849) [PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_nsw_1838_on.pdf
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retreived 3rd May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_australia_victoria.pdf
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 3rd May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_australia_victoria.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
H.M.S. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood: Crew Information - H.M.S. Hood Rolls of Honour, Men Lost in the Sinking of H.M.S. Hood, 24th May 1941. (Retrieved 2016, July 15) . Retrieved from http://www.hmshood.com/crew/memorial/roh_24may41.htm