Pancoast History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

The ancestors of the Pancoast surname lived among the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. The name comes from when they lived in the region of Parkhurst or wood in the park. Pancoast is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads.

Early Origins of the Pancoast family

The surname Pancoast was first found in Herefordshire where Sir Osbern Pentecost (died 1054), a Norman knight who followed Edward the Confessor to England built the castle at Ewyas, one of the first Motte and Bailey structures in England. He like many other Normans was banished from England so he secured safe passage to Scotland in 1052 but was later killed at the Battle of Dunsinane.

"The Bishops of Exeter held Ashburton, [Devon] until it was assumed by the Crown under James I., and subsequently sold in moieties to Sir Robert Parkhurst and the Earl of Feversham. " 1

Early History of the Pancoast family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pancoast research. Another 73 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1511, 1560, 1569, 1574, 1603, 1625, 1635, 1636, 1651, 1659, 1674, 1743, 1797 and 1809 are included under the topic Early Pancoast History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pancoast Spelling Variations

Before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago, spelling variations of names were a common occurrence. Elements of Latin, French and other languages became incorporated into English through the Middle Ages, and name spellings changed even among the literate. The variations of the surname Pancoast include Parkhurst, Pankhurst and others.

Early Notables of the Pancoast family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Emily Pankhurst, Suffragette; John Parkhurst (c. 1511-1574), an English Marian exile and later Bishop of Norwich in 1560; Sir Robert Parkhurst (c.1569-1636), an English merchant who was Lord Mayor of...
Another 38 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Pancoast Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pancoast Ranking

In the United States, the name Pancoast is the 15,092^nd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Pancoast migration to the United States +

A great wave of immigration to the New World was the result of the enormous political and religious disarray that struck England at that time. Families left for the New World in extremely large numbers. The long journey was the end of many immigrants and many more arrived sick and starving. Still, those who made it were rewarded with an opportunity far greater than they had known at home in England. These emigrant families went on to make significant contributions to these emerging colonies in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers carried this name or one of its variants:

Pancoast Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Pancoast, who landed in New Jersey in 1680 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Pancoast (post 1700) +

Fred Pancoast (1932-2023), American human resources executive and a college football player head football coach at the University of Tampa (1962–1963), University of Memphis, (1972–1974)
Brigadier-General Donald F. Pancoast (1896-1963), American Adjutant-General of Ohio (1942-1947) 4

Citations +

Worth, R.N., A History of Devonshire London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, E.G., 1895. Digital
"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)
Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2014, March 26) Donald Pancoast. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Pancoast/Donald_F./USA.html